Sweet Dreams
by PawPrint-Writer
Summary: A strange illness befalls the guild of Fairy Tail, sending people into a deep sleep from which they do not wake. The remaining members are left to wonder what could be causing this devastating phenomenon. Could it be a spell? A plague? Nothing is for sure. All that can be done is hope their friends are having sweet dreams... (Rated T for swearing)
1. Prologue

**Nobody POV**

* * *

It was only two hours from being the middle of the day when the blond-haired girl known as Lucy Heartfillia was woken up. Slowly and reluctantly, she uncovered her face. She blinked, closed her eyes, and blinked again. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window and blinded her.

"Ugh..." She groaned as she woke up.

She sat up in her bed and rubbed her right eye with her hand. Looking around her bed, Lucy found that her pink-haired teammate and his blue cat were nowhere to be seen.

"It's good to wake up without them in my bed for once," she spoke to herself, smiling.

Lucy looked out the window, her eyes following the few people walking around outside. Her mind drifted back to the dream that she had.

"That was one strange dream, though..." She thought aloud. "I couldn't see anything or anyone, but I could hear someone talking nearby."

Her mouth opened, releasing a yawn.

"I'm actually still pretty tired though. It feels like I didn't sleep at all," she let out another yawn. "Maybe I just didn't sleep well?"

She yawned, once again, and laid back down, letting the soft caress of her sheets cradle her.

 _Yeah, that sounds most likely. But even if that isn't the case I should go back to sleep._ She mused. _Hopefully I'll sleep better this time._

Lucy closed her warm brown eyes and laid there for a few seconds, trying to fall back into a state of repose.

 _Wait a second...wasn't I supposed to hang out with Lisanna today?_

She opened her eyes and tried to remember if she was supposed to hang out with the white haired girl today or not, before coming to the conclusion that she was.

"Oh geez, I completely forgot about that!" She groaned as she swung her legs over the side of the bed before standing up.

Lucy quickly brushed her teeth, combed her golden hair, and got dressed before leaving her apartment.

 _I hope that I'm not late..._ She thought as she walked down the street. _And hopefully I can remember where we're supposed to meet up._

Lucy continued her walk as she struggled to recall where she was supposed to meet Lisanna. Unfortunately, she was so concentrated on her thoughts that she wasn't looking where she was going and ended up bumping into someone.

"Huh?" She was snapped out of her thoughts by the physical contact. "Oh, sorry about that."

Lucy looked at the person that she had bumped into and saw that it was none other than Juvia Lockser.

"It is okay Love Rival," the water mage responded coolly. "Juvia was actually looking for you because Juvia wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Lucy inquired her guildmate.

"Juvia finally gets to go on a date with Gray-sama," she replied with pale pink dusting her cheeks. "We'll be going on it tomorrow."

"Really? Good for you, Juvia!" Lucy congratulated, smiling at her friend.

"But can Juvia ask Love Rival something?" The blue haired girl said, staring at Lucy with an unreadable expression.

"Of course," Lucy's happy face didn't falter. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Love Rival wouldn't be mad if Juvia prevented Love Rival from interfering with Juvia and Gray-sama's date, would she?" Juvia asked, an unnerving gleam in her eyes.

"Uhhh...Juvia...what's with that look?" The celestial mage slowly began to back up, feeling unsettled by Juvia's gaze.

"Juvia is sorry, Love Rival."

Before Lucy could escape, Juvia rose up her hand and imprisoned Lucy inside of a water lock.

"But Juvia just cannot risk Love Rival doing anything to interfere in Juvia and Gray-sama's date," she finished. "Accident or not."

Lucy tried to get out of it but was unable to, and fell unconscious after a while. Once she saw that her 'love rival' was unconscious, Juvia dispelled the water lock and began to drag the blonde off.

* * *

 **!~[Time Skip]~!**

* * *

Lisanna sat on a bench in a park with her head resting on her hands, a bored look on her face as she waited for the blonde haired girl to arrive. It was a beautiful place, Magnolia park. The grass was a trimmed green, brightly colored flowers dotting them here and there. Paths of worn dirt weaved around the park, converging at a water fountain in the middle of the area. People were here and there, children laughing and playing with each other, adults casually talking together, the usual idyll park scenery.

"Where is she?" Lisanna mumbled, her eyes lazily glancing around in search of the celestial wizard. "I've been waiting an hour."

The takeover mage let out a bored sigh, leaning back.

"Did she sleep in?" Lisanna wondered aloud. "Or...did she forget?"

She sat there for another minute before her eyes narrowed.

"You know what? Forget this," boredom turned into annoyance as she stood up from the bench. "If she isn't coming here, then I'll go there."

Lisanna began to head in the direction of Lucy's apartment. But after some time of walking, she suddenly stopped when she heard the splash of water under her feet.

"What the-?" She looked down to see her foot submerged in a shallow pool of water. "A puddle? On a day like this?"

She quickly noticed the blue ribbon resting in it and raised her eyebrow as she picked the soaked item up off the ground.

"Isn't this the ribbon that Lucy wears in her hair?" She mused to herself. "What's this doing here?"

She stared at the ribbon for a few seconds before realization hit her like a sack of bricks.

"Hold on...a puddle on a clear day, Lucy's ribbon being here, and the fact that Juvia has a date with Gray tomorrow...Juvia kidnapped her, didn't she?" She asked no one.

Lisanna sighed as she pocketed the moist ribbon.

"I better go get her," she frowned, not being too surprised by Juvia kidnapping Lucy.

Lisanna went to Juvia's house and knocked on the water mage's door, and after a few seconds Juvia answered.

"Oh, hello Lisanna," Juvia greeted her. "Is there something that you need?"

"Hey, Juvia," she said with a smile back. "Can I come in?"

The water wizard moved aside to allow Lisanna inside. Juvia then closed the door and turned to her.

"Juvia, I know that you kidnapped Lucy and you need to let her go," Lisanna decided to be straightforward with her friend. "You can't just kidnap people after all."

"What are you talking about? Juvia didn't kidnap Love Rival," the girl claimed, maintaining her innocent front.

"Then why did I find this," she slipped out Lucy's hair ribbon. "In a puddle on a clear day?"

"Uhhhh..." Juvia knew that she had been found out. Her eyes matched that of a deer which had been caught in headlights. "Someone else kidnapped Love Rival?"

"Just let her go, Juvia," Lisanna frowned, placing the ribbon back into her pocket.

Juvia tried to think of what to do as she looked anywhere for a way out, but the white haired takeover mage had her cornered.

"Come on...let her go, Juvia," Lisanna repeated, more firmly this time.

"Juvia is sorry!" The water mage apologized, making her decision.

Juvia quickly lifted up her hand and imprisoned Lisanna in a water lock, which she only dispelled when Lisanna was unconscious...and now soaked.

"This might be getting out of hand..." Juvia mumbled as she dragged Lisanna to the same place where she was keeping Lucy.

* * *

After a while, Lisanna began to regain consciousness, feeling like she was lying on a floor with a voice speaking to her.

"Li...sa...lisa...nna...sann...Lisanna!"

Lisanna tiredly opened her eyes to see Lucy on her knees right next to her. She wore a worried look on her face that turned to relief when she saw Lisanna's eyes open up.

"Oh thank goodness...you're okay," Lucy was relieved. "I was beginning to get worried."

"Lucy? What happened?" Lisanna questioned as she sat up.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Lucy answered with a frown. "Juvia dragged you in here and left you here looking a bit worried."

"And you didn't try to escape?"

"Of course I did, but Juvia put me in another water lock before I could get anywhere near the door," Lucy answered.

"Oh...well, do you have any idea why she kidnapped you?" The Strauss girl asked her friend.

"Juvia has a date with Gray and she doesn't want to risk me interfering with her date," Lucy told her, before looking at her with curiosity. "What about you? Why did she kidnap you?"

"Because I figured out that she kidnapped you," she answered.

"How'd you figure that out?" Lucy asked her.

"I found your hair ribbon in a puddle, but I don't know what happened to it after Juvia knocked me out," she assumed that Juvia took the hair ribbon from her. "So sorry, but I can't give it back to you."

"It's alright," Lucy assured her. "It's not your fault, after all."

"Thanks. Anyways, come on," Lisanna got up off of the floor. "We have to find a way out of this place."

Lucy got up off of the floor as well, and the two of them began to search for a way out of their prison. But after a minute or two of searching, Lisanna heard Lucy yawning so she glanced over at her only to see that she had tired eyes.

"You alright, Lucy?" Lisanna stopped searching, wondering how she didn't notice that earlier.

"Huh?" Lucy stopped what she was doing and looked at her. "Oh yeah, I'm fine...I just didn't get a lot of sleep."

"You didn't sleep? Why?"

"No, I did go to sleep but when I woke up...It felt like I hadn't slept at all," Lucy confessed before yawning once again.

"Really?" She asked, receiving a nod in response. "Well that's weird..."

"It is, but hopefully I'll sleep better tonight," Lucy said, before going back to her search.

Lisanna went over to Lucy and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping the blonde.

"Actually, I think that you should rest," she spoke the her friend.

"But what about-" Lucy tried to ask, only to be cut off by another yawn. "What about finding a way out of here?"

"I'll keep looking, you lay down and take a nap," she commanded. "I'll wake you up when I find us a way out."

"Are you sure that you can handle that on your own?" Lucy said with concern, not wanting to put all the work on her.

"Of course I'm sure," Lisanna waved off her concern with a semi-confident smile. "Now lay down and get some rest."

"Alright..." Lucy reluctantly obeyed. "If you say so."

Lisanna took her hand off of Lucy's shoulder and went back to searching for a way out, while Lucy laid down on the floor of the room and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer: Bad place to end it, I know but I couldn't think of a better way to end it because if I went on any further, it would feel strange so yeah... Anyways...**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm: Heellooo! This is the beta, RevlisCharm. Just wanted to let everyone know I'll be editing my friend Paw's story, so yeah. She's an amazing writer, and all credit for this fic goes to her! I'm just the beta. Please review if you have the time!**


	2. Chapter 1: A Dream

**Nobody POV**

* * *

 ** _When Lucy reopened her eyes, she found herself standing on a small island abundant with flowers of all different kinds arranged to look like star. The island was upon a great lake, a lake of dark blue water, but crystal clear and very beautiful in color. Lucy watched fishes swimming suspended in the clear, beautiful dark-blue water. Some were pale fish, some frightening-looking, like centipedes swimming, and some were dark fish, of definite form, and delightful to watch. The water seemed to sparkle, making it look oh so inviting to the human eye._**

 ** _The blanket of navy sky overhead was as clear as it could possibly be with constellations side by side surrounding the small island in a circle, with the softly glowing moon nestled in the midst of it all. A smell of jasmine drifted up from the ground, making the whole place a wondrous fantasy._**

 ** _"Wow...this place is absolutely beautiful," she looked around in awe, her brown eyes lighting up at the sights. "I know that it's only a dream, but still...wow..."_**

 ** _Lucy looked around the area for a while without moving from where she was standing until something snapped her out of her thoughts. Or rather, someone._**

 ** _"Lucy!"_**

 ** _"Huh?" Lucy heard her name called out, and tried to place the voice before recognizing it. "Is that you, Lisanna?"_**

 ** _"Where are you, Lucy? I can't see you!"_**

 ** _"I'm over here, Lisanna!" Lucy spun her head around, looking for the ivory haired girl, but couldn't see her either._**

 ** _"Come to me, Lucy! I'm over by the telescope!"_**

 ** _The celestial wizard wandered around the small island looking for the telescope Lisanna mentioned, eventually finding it._**

 ** _The telescope was built into a large tree, its leaves shaped perfectly like stars. Its skeletal boughs twisted and glittered like brass coils. Its great bole curved this way and that, sprouting new branches that birth a pale green, creating luscious leaves that sparkle in faintest light, and designing a collection of sweet fruits and fragrant flowers. Its massive roots danced in and out of the dirt in abstract waltzes and minuets as they gripped the hard ground with strapping and powerful limbs. With its great boughs it strives to touch the sky, and with its noble roots it strengthens its hold on the ground. And Lisanna happened to be seated on a branch, using the device to gaze into the night sky._**

 ** _"I'm here!" She shouted, earning Lisanna's attention._**

 ** _The takeover mage looked up from the...well, let's call it the telescope tree. She looked over from the telescope tree and turned around to face her. Two branches that acted as the telescope part of the tree retracted into the tree and disappeared._**

 ** _"Lucy! There you are!" She sounded so happy to see her friend. "I was beginning to think you had left!"_**

 ** _"I would never leave," Lucy reassured her with a smile. "Especially not when you're waiting for me."_**

 ** _"And I'm so glad to hear that!" Lisanna exclaimed, before going over to her and eclipsing her in a tight hug. "I'm also so happy to see you!"_**

 ** _Lucy awkwardly hugged her back, as she didn't expect Lisanna, even if it was a dream version of her, to hug her or be this happy to see her._**

 ** _"I'm happy to see you too?" It accidentally slipped out as a question._**

 ** _"What's the matter, Lucy?" Lisanna pulled away, a concerned look on her face. "You sound like you're upset...did I do something wrong?"_**

 ** _"No, no! It's alright!" She quickly reassured her. If Lisanna was anything like her older sister, Mira, she would guilt-trip people with big, fake tears to get her way. And while Lucy had never seen Lisanna do such thing, she wasn't about to let her guard down just yet. "I just wasn't expecting you to hug me, or be this happy to see me after all."_**

 ** _"A friend can't be happy to see their best friend?" Lisanna tilted her head with a confused look on her face._**

 ** _"They can, but you're acting like you haven't seen me in years," she explained._**

 ** _"Oh...sorry," Lisanna got a sad expression as she looked down at the ground. "Are you okay?" Lucy asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder._**

 ** _"No...I got too happy and now you're gonna leave me..." Lisanna softly, before turning her back to the blonde._**

 ** _"What? I'm not gonna leave you," Lucy assured the girl._**

 ** _"You aren't?" Lisanna spoke hopefully, looking over her shoulder._**

 ** _"Of course not! Friends make mistakes sometimes, and one mistake doesn't mean that I'm gonna leave you forever," she smiled at the white haired girl._**

 ** _"So we'll be friends forever, right?" Lisanna didn't turn around to face her. "And you'll never leave me, right?"_**

 ** _"...right." Lucy delayed her answer due to a chill running down her spine. Was she cold? She didn't feel cold. She wondered if there was a dream Gray around making her feel that way._**

 ** _"Yay!" Lisanna cheered in happiness as she turned around, and was about to hug her but stopped herself. "So what do you wanna do first, friend? Do you wanna look at the stars? You wanna go swimming? We can do anything you want here~!"_**

 ** _"Hmmm...how about we look at the stars?" Lucy suggested. "That sounds like fun. And you know how much I love stars."_**

 ** _"Then I'll let you be the first to look through the telescope!" Lisanna's hand phased through the tree and she pulled out the branch that she was looking through causing the other branch to extend itself from the back of the tree as well._**

 ** _"Thanks," Lucy said with a smile._**

 ** _"No problem!" Lisanna responded enthusiastically. "Anything for a friend!"_**

 ** _Lucy walked past Lisanna and looked through the telescope into the night sky. She told Lisanna about everything that she was seeing excitedly, but after a few minutes..._**

 ** _"Friend? What's happening to you?" Lisanna had a worried tone to her voice as Lucy's body began to fade._**

 ** _"Oh...I must be waking up," Lucy pulled away from the telescope tree to look over herself._**

 ** _"Waking up?" Lisanna frowned. "Awww...will you come visit me when you fall asleep next time?"_**

 ** _"I don't see why not," Lucy smiled._**

 ** _"Then I'll be waiting right here for you!" Lisanna exclaimed with a happy smile on her face. "I'll see you when you fall back asleep!"_**

 ** _Lucy then disappeared from the dream world, rendering Lisanna all alone on the small island; the smile disappeared from her face as soon as Lucy was gone._**

 ** _"I miss her already..." She frowned. "But I guess I can at least be glad about what she said."_**

 ** _Lisanna looked through the telescope tree, but rather than showing her the stars in the sky like it had done for Lucy, the telescope tree showed her the world of the awake._**

 ** _"We'll be friends forever and she'll never leave me," she told herself. "So I'll never be lonely again."_**

 ** _A smile stretched across her face as she watched Lucy get woken up by the real Lisanna._**

 ** _"And I'll make sure that she stays true to what she said," she smiled, but this was a different smile then before. This one had a much more...darker look to it. "I'll make sure that she will never, ever leave me."_**

* * *

 **Lucy POV**

* * *

I woke up to the feeling of a hand on my shoulder, shaking me.

"Lucy, come on...wake up."

I groaned and cracked open my heavy eyes to see Lisanna sitting on her knees by me; once again, I felt like I hadn't slept at all.

"Lisanna?" I asked wearily. "What's the matter?"

"I found a way out of here," she whispered, taking her hand off my shoulder. "I had to put a hole in Juvia's wall, but it isn't that big so I don't think she should mind too much."

"A way out? What are you talking about?" I asked as I sat up while rubbing my eyes.

"Juvia's keeping us prisoner in her house, remember?" The takeover mage reminded me.

"Oh right...let's..." I was cut off by a yawn. "Let's go."

"You okay, Lucy?" Lisanna asked as she got up off the floor.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I reassured her. "I'm just...tired..."

"After you took a nap?" I nodded in answer. "Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"I don't remember," I didn't remember my dream at all.

"Well, even if it was a nightmare, it's still weird," Lisanna pointed out. "Anyways, get up...we have to get out of here before Juvia comes to check on us."

I got up off of the floor and crawled through the small hole that Lisanna had put in the wall after Lisanna had crawled through.

Once we were out of Juvia's house, Lisanna and I walked away, with me sluggishly traipsing behind her.

"Well this has been a pretty eventful day," Lisanna spoke up after awhile of walking. "But unfortunately, you're too tired to hang out and honestly I'm not too up for it either after having been kidnapped by a yandere."

"Should we reschedule it?" I asked her.

"Of course we're gonna reschedule our hangout!" She answered enthusiastically. "How does three days from now sound?"

"Sounds..." I was once again interrupted by a yawn, longer this time. "Sounds good."

"Then three days from now it is," she declared the new date for our hangout. "Try not to forget, alright?"

"Alright..." I responded sleepily.

Lisanna and I came across my apartment building and I trudged towards the door.

"See you later, Lucy," Lisanna bid goodbye, waving to me.

"See you later..." I said back.

I slowly made my way to my room and went inside, closing the door behind me.

 _Home sweet home..._ I thought to myself.

I slipped off my shoes and didn't bother changing into my pajamas as I collapsed onto my bed and fell fast asleep, hoping that I would actually feel rested when I woke up this time.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	3. Chapter 2: It Begins

**Lisanna POV**

* * *

After saying goodbye to Lucy, I made my way back to my house, only to find that Mirajane and Elfman weren't there.

 _They must be at the guild._ I assumed that's where they were.

I went around the house, taking care of things that were mostly cleaning related, until I was stopped by a sudden sleepy feeling that came out of nowhere. I felt like a sloth on sleeping pills.

"Huh? Where did this feeling come from?" I wondered aloud, placing a hand on my head.

I yawned, causing the tired feeling to become worse.

 _I guess that it has been a long day._ I reasoned. _I got kidnapped by Juvia, I sort of hung out with Lucy, I put a hole in Juvia's wall, and I just cleaned up the house._

I began to make my way towards my bedroom.

 _I should probably take a nap._ I thought to myself. _Yeah...that sounds like a good idea._

Upon entering my room, I got changed into my pajamas before lying down on my bed and pulling the covers over my body. I snuggled into the embrace of my sheets, smiling at how cozy it felt.

"Goodnight world," I cooed to no one in particular.

After saying goodnight, I shut my eyes and fell fast asleep after a few seconds.

* * *

 _ **When I reopened my eyes, I found myself standing on a small island floating in the middle of a lake. The star-arranged flower patches in the ground were all on the verge of wilting and clouds as thick as cotton blocked out the moon, making it quite dark. Everything was shrouded in shadows and a cold wind blew past me, causing my hair to sway in the breeze.**_

 _ **"This place is so creepy..." I shivered, a coldness traveling down my spine.**_

 _ **I looked around the eerie world, before finally spotting a familiar figure in the distance who had their back turned to me. But I knew that head of blonde hair anywhere.**_

 _ **"What the...is that...?" I walked closer to the figure to get a better look at them. "It's Lucy...what's she doing here?"**_

 _ **I continued getting closer until the blonde stopped me by speaking.**_

 _ **"What are you doing here?" She spat the word 'you' like it was poison.**_

 _ **"What am I doing here?" I repeated her question, raising my eyebrow at her tone. "What are you doing here?"**_

 _ **"You shouldn't be here...just leave us alone and go back to that horrible world you call life," she growled, sounding angry with me.**_

 _ **"Huh? Us? What do you-?"**_

 _ **Before I could finish my question, Lucy walked away from me, quickly vanishing into the darkness.**_

 _ **"Wait!" I called after her. As rude as she had just been to me, I didn't want to be stuck in this creepy place all by myself.**_

 _ **I followed after her, coming across a large tree. Its bark was a warm brown, subtle in color. The leaves were shaped like round, cartoon stars, a tarp of green covering the brown. Lucy was crouched down in front of something, clearly enamored with it. She appeared to be tinkering with what was in front of her.**_

 _ **"What's that?" I asked her, craning my head in attempt to get a look at it. I gasped when I saw what it was.**_

 _ **There was another Lucy propped up against the tree. She seemed to be fast asleep and the first Lucy was wrapping a black scarf decorated with a golden star pattern around the sleeping Lucy's neck.**_

 _ **"What the-? Another Lucy?" I didn't realize that I had spoken out loud.**_

 _ **The first Lucy growled in anger as she slowly got up from her crouch to stand on her feet. Her fists were clenched, and a dark aura emanated from her.**_

 _ **"I thought that I told you..." She started.**_

 _ **She turned around to face me, but her left eye radiated a dark turquoise color rather than being kobicha brown. Her teeth were as sharp as a shark's, and parts of her body were completely black, making them look like silhouettes. The shadowy parts seemed to resemble Gray's devil slayer markings, I noted.**_

 _ **"TO LEAVE. US. ALONE!" She hollered at me, her expression livid.**_

 _ **She pointed at the ground beneath my feet, causing a terrifying portal of black to open up. I fell through into the endless void of darkness, the only light that was being provided the portal entrance above me.**_

 _ **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" I shrieked as I fell, my heart pounding rapidly as wind whooshed around my body.**_

 _ **The first Lu- No, the monster appeared in view of the portal and watched me fall with a smile on its face; it waved at me before closing the portal and I continued my horrifying descent.**_

* * *

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" I screamed as I tumbled out of bed and onto the floor with a thump. "Oof!"

I quickly opened my eyes. Once I saw I was back in my bedroom, I took some deep breaths to calm my hyperventilating heart down.

"Oh thank Mavis...it was just a dream..." I breathed out, relief flooding through me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands.

 _What was with that dream, though?_ I wondered, trying to decrypt what I had just seen. _It felt so real..._

I yawned, before blinking in confusion at my action.

"What the...? Why am I still sleepy?" My voice came out very surprised, and my emotions matched my tone. "I just took a nap, so I shouldn't be tired."

I sat on my floor contemplating things for a few seconds, before remembering dream Lucy and becoming a bit worried about real her. Seeing as she was tired after having taken a nap too, and how she asleep in my dream.

 _I better go check on her..._ I thought worriedly.

I got up off the floor and got changed out of my pajamas, before leaving the house; on the way there, I tried to figure out what was happening right now, but was unable to come to a clear conclusion.

I entered into the apartment building Lucy resided in, and stood in front of Lucy's door.

"Lucy...it's me, Lisanna," I raised a closed fist, rapping my knuckles against the wooden door. "Can I come in?"

There was no response, and I couldn't hear anything inside of the apartment.

"Lucy? Are you in there?" I knocked again after waiting a few seconds.

Once again, there was no answer, so I grasped the doorknob, the metal cold and making my skin tingle. I twisted it, and to my surprise, the door opened.

 _She must've forgotten to lock the door._

I walked inside of the apartment and shut the door behind me, glancing around the room for my friend. I spotted her lying in bed, asleep.

"Oh, she was sleeping," I was slightly allayed to see that nothing bad had happened to her. "That explains why she didn't answer the door."

Making my way to her bedside, I began to look her over.

 _It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with her._ I was relieved. _I guess that I was worried for nothing._

Just when I was about to take my leave, I noticed that Lucy's chest was rising and falling very slowly.

 _Huh? I don't think sleeping people are supposed to breathe like that...or any people, for that matter..._ My eyebrows furrowed in concern.

My worry returned to me as I reached down and grabbed her wrist, finding that it was the temperature of ice.

 _Why is she so cold?_

I pressed two fingers to the side of her throat with my free hand, finding that her pulse was there, but going at a slow pace.

 _Okay, so she's still alive, but her breathing is slow, her skin is really cold, and her pulse is slow too._ I set her wrist back down on the bed. _Maybe she's sick?_

My eyes drifted to her content face while trying to think of what could be wrong with her.

 _Her face is so peaceful...it's almost like..._ My thoughts trailed off as realization came to me. _She's..comatose..._

The reality hit me harder than a sack of bricks to the face.

"LUCY! WAKE UP!" I yelled at her, thinking that something horrible had happened to the celestial mage.

I slapped her as hard as I possibly could, trying to get her to snap out of her unconscious state.

"WAKE UP NOW!" I screamed at her as loud as I could, so loud it hurt my throat.

I slapped her a few more times, but no matter how many times I slapped her, she didn't wake up and she didn't react in the slightest.

"Ugh...she won't wake up..." I became frustrated. "What do I do, what do I do!?"

I stood there for a while trying to figure out what to do, occasionally slapping Lucy again in hopes that she would wake, but just like the other times nothing happened.

"I know!" I clapped my hands together as an idea came to me. "I'll take her to the guild!"

I grabbed onto Lucy and began to pull her out of bed.

 _Someone there should know how to wake her up._ I prayed silently. _At least, I hope so..._

Heaving the girl onto my back, I held her arms to keep her from falling off.

"Geez, Happy wasn't kidding," I frowned, shifting my friend's weight to try and get a better grip. "Lucy is heavy."

Exiting the apartment, I headed to the guild, getting quite a few weird looks along the way from the people I was passing. But I honestly couldn't care less. I've seen _much_ weirder things during my time in Fairy Tail.

I walked into the guild and found that there weren't many people there, but my attention was immediately caught by Natsu and Happy who were sitting at the bar having a conversation. Mirajane stood near them, looking rather concerned.

"So you're saying that she just fell asleep while you were talking to her?" My older sister asked the pair.

"Yeah! It was totally out of nowhere!" Natsu answered, his head nodding up and down. "One second she's completely fine, and the next she's sleeping!"

"She wouldn't wake up no matter what we did either," Happy commented sadly. "It was like she was dead or something."

I made my way over to them with Lucy still on my back.

"Hey guys," I greeted them, smiling despite the unconscious girl weighing me down.

They turned their attention to me and almost immediately noticed her.

"What's wrong with Luce?" Natsu asked right away, worry for his teammate clear in his olive eyes.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "She won't wake up though."

"Have you tried slapping her?" Happy suggested.

"Yeah, but that didn't work," I replied. "It's really weird...her pulse is faint, her breathing is slow, and-"

"Her skin is cold?" Mirajane finished my sentence for me.

"How'd you know?" I rose an eyebrow at her.

"Because the same thing is happening to Wendy right now," Mirajane informed me. "And what you just described are things that are happening to her, too."

"Are you serious?" I was shocked. _Both of them?!_

"I wouldn't lie about something like this, Lisanna," Mirajane confirmed that she was telling the truth.

"Give Luce to me, Lis," Natsu commanded, holding out his arms. "I'll take her to the infirmary."

I handed Lucy over to her teammate, who carried her bridal style to the infirmary. I then sat down on the stool next to the one that Natsu had previously occupied.

"So this is happening to Wendy too, huh?" I asked.

"It sure is," Happy confirmed my question. "She just fell asleep while talking."

"Was she tired when it happened?" I pressed for further details.

"She looked a little tired but not so tired to where she would fall asleep in the middle of what she was saying," Happy answered, before looking at me curiously. "Why?"

"Lucy was really tired when we escaped from Juvia's house," I told him, my slim fingers beginning to tap the wood of the bar's surface.

"Wait...did you say that you escaped from Juvia's house?" I nodded to answer Mirajane's question. "What happened?"

"Juvia kidnapped Lucy because she wanted to make sure that Lucy wouldn't accidentally mess up her date with Gray, and when I went to go get her, Juvia kidnapped me too," I explained.

"Remind me to have a talk with Juvia," my sister said with a sigh.

"Sure. But anyways, I had Lucy take a nap while I looked for a way out, but when I woke her up, it was like she hadn't slept at all," I told her. "We both went home and I took a nap, but I had a really weird dream."

"What was it about?"

"I was on a small island in the middle of a lake at night, and Lucy was in the distance facing away from me. I went over to her and she started talking to me without turning around to face me," I explained my dream. "She sounded really mad at me for some reason."

Neither of them said anything as they continued listening to my story.

"She told me to leave and then walked off, so I went after her and found her with another Lucy," I continued explaining. "The other Lucy was fast asleep and sitting against the tree, and the angry one was wrapping a scarf around her neck."

"A scarf?" Happy spoke up. "Why a scarf?"

"I don't know, but as soon as the awake one noticed that I was there, she turned around to face me but she didn't look like Lucy," I continued my explanation. "She looked more like a monster, and yelled at me to leave her and the other Lucy alone. Then she opened a portal beneath my feet and made me fall into a void."

Once again, neither of them spoke. "It was smiling as it watched me fall and it waved before closing the portal. Then I woke up on the floor of my room," I told them. "I got worried about Lucy because the dream felt way too real, and when I went to go check on her, she wouldn't wake up no matter what I did. So I brought her here."

"Is that it?" Happy asked, and I nodded. "That _is_ really weird."

"I know, and I have no clue what's going on," I said with a frown. I just hoped that Lucy was alright, and whatever was happening to her and Wendy would be over soon.

"Neither do we, but Levy's in the guild's library right now looking for..." My sister began to trail off.

"Looking for what?" I asked, tilting my head at her.

"Looking for...Levy's looking...for..." Mirajane's eyes began to slide closed, before she suddenly fell over and hit the floor with a thud.

"MIRA!" Happy and I both exclaimed in worry.

I ran behind the bar as fast as I could to check on her as Happy just jumped off the counter.

"Mira! Mirajane! Can you hear me?!" I shouted in fear and worry, shaking my older sibling.

Her breathing began to slow down, and her skin began to lose its warm.

"No! Don't fall asleep!" I pleaded, shaking her more vigorously. "Happy! Help me, shake her! We might still be able to do something!"

"A-Aye!" The blue cat stuttered nervously.

Happy began to help me shake Mirajane, but it was no use as she quickly slipped into a comatose state. Just like Lucy and Wendy...

"Mira! Come on, wake up! Wake up!" Happy pleaded, continuing to rattle her.

Once it became apparent that we couldn't do anything, Happy and I stopped shaking her and brought her to the infirmary.

I looked around the room and saw Lucy and Wendy lying in the infirmary beds with Carla sitting next to Wendy's body, and Natsu sitting on the edge of the bed that Lucy was sleeping in.

"What happened?" Carla inquired upon seeing Mirajane.

"She fell asleep while she was talking just like Wendy did," Happy answered solemnly.

"So Mira's sleeping now too?" Natsu asked. "Geez...who's next?"

"Let's hope that there _isn't_ a next one," Carla said in irritation.

Happy and I placed Mirajane on an infirmary bed and covered her with the blankets, making it appear like she was just taking a nap. I sat down on the edge of the bed as Happy flew over to his flame-wielding friend.

 _First Lucy, then Wendy, and now Mira?_ I thought as I looked at my sister's peaceful face. _Just what in the world is happening?_

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	4. Chapter 3: Searching for Answers

**Natsu POV**

* * *

Happy, Lisanna, Carla and I all sat there for a few minutes talking to each other about random things, but we mostly talked about what was happening currently. Now though, we were just sitting in silence.

 _Geez...it's so quiet in here that I bet even a deaf person could hear a pin drop..._ I thought to myself, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Natsu..." Carla finally broke the stretch of silence.

"Yeah?" I glanced over at the exceed.

"Could you go check on Levy and see if she's alright?"

"Doesn't she have metal breath and what's-his-face with her?"

"All the same, I still want you to go check on her. You never know what could be happening right now."

"Carla's right, Natsu," Lisanna spoke up. "Levy and Gajeel could be sleeping right now and we might not even know it."

"Alright then, I'll go check on them," I said, finally giving into them. Hopping off the edge of the bed, my feet touched the floor with a soft thump. "Stay here, Happy."

"Aye, sir!" the blue cat responded in his usual enthusiastic gusto.

Walking out of the room, I headed to the guild's library. I didn't hesitate in swinging open the door and marching inside.

"Oi, Levy! Are you sleeping?" I called out, cupping my hands over my mouth.

"No, I'm wide awake," Levy responded, waving at me from behind a bookcase.

"What about iron head and what's-his-name?" I asked her. "Are they sleeping?"

"Right here, asshole, and Pantherlily's helping shrimp look for some books," Gajeel was sitting on the floor cross-legged by a bookshelf, a look of irritation on his face due to my entry. "What are you here for, anyways?"

"Carla wanted me to come check on you guys," I answered.

"Well, we're fine, so you can leave," Gajeel grunted, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

"Have you found anything about what's going on, Levy?" ignoring the iron dragon slayer, I reverted my attention to blue haired girl.

"Pantherlily _did_ find an old book that might explain what's going on, but a lot of the text is too faded to read," Levy answered. "What about you guys? Has anything new happened?"

"Other than the fact that Lucy and Mira are asleep now, too," I responded. "No, nothing new has happened."

"Are you lying?" Gajeel asked suspiciously, narrowing his scarlet eyes in my direction.

"Why the hell would I lie about something like that?" I shot back.

"So what's happening might be infectious," Levy mumbled to herself, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I'll have to remember that."

"Anyways...is there anything you want me to do while I'm here, Levy?" I asked the solid script mage.

"Could you bring the old book I told you about to the infirmary so we don't accidentally lose it?" Levy requested, looking up at me.

"Sure...where is it?"

"It's over on that table by a mirror," she answered, pointing at it from behind the bookcase.

"Why do we have a mirror in here?" I questioned as I walked over to where she pointed.

"It's for when there's backwards text in a book," she responded. "It comes in handy quite a lot, actually."

I went over to the table and picked up the old book. It was a thick volume of tattered pages, with worn leather binding encasing it.

"Mythical Creatures: Ancient Edition," I read aloud the dulled words on the cover of the ancient-looking tome.

Curiously, I flipped through the pages of the book. I looked more at the pictures rather than reading the crumbling text, which allowed me to get through the book very quickly.

 _Wow...I wonder if those things still exist..._

"What are you waiting for?" Gajeel asked, his tone clearly annoyed. "Take the book and leave already."

"Don't tell me what to do," I growled at him.

I left the guild's library after that with the book tucked under my arm, and went back into the infirmary where the others were waiting for me.

"So, how are they?" Carla asked when she noticed I had returned.

"They're fine," I answered, heading over to the bed that Lucy was in and sitting back down.

"What's that book you're holding, Natsu?" the female exceed inquired, taking note of the battered item under my arm.

"Levy asked me to bring this to the infirmary so she didn't accidentally lose it."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure," I stood up, the bed creaking as my weight was removed and handed it to the her. I then returned to my seat on the brink of Lucy's bedside. "A lot of the text is too faded to read, though," I explained.

"It must be a really old book then," Lisanna commented. "I wonder how old it is..."

"It's probably older than Master Makarov," Happy guessed.

Carla looked through the pages with care, inspecting all of the pictures in the book closely. While she did so, I struck up friendly conversation with Lisanna.

"Excuse me, Lisanna," Carla interrupted us. The takeover mage turned her head to look at the feline.

"Hm? What is it Carla?"

"What did the Lucy in your dream look like again?" Carla asked.

"The sleeping one or the awake one?"

"The awake one," Carla answered. "And be as descriptive as possible."

"Well, its left eye was a dark turquoise and was glowing slightly, and it had razor-like teeth that looked like they belonged more to a shark rather than a human. Parts of its body were completely black, too. Like Gray's demon slayer markings," she described.

"And what were these parts of her body?" Carla asked, a hint of uneasiness tinting her voice.

"Her left leg, her right hand, the upper right half of her face making her right eye into a small greenish blue dot rather than an actual eye, and the right half of her belly," Lisanna answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because your description matches the picture in this book," Carla told her as she spun the book around.

We all stared at the slightly tarnished picture. It depicted a person sleeping in a bed, with an identical copy of said person perched at the head of the bed. But the perched person had sharp teeth, parts of their body were completely black and if the picture wasn't in black and white then I'm sure the eyes would be green-blue.

"So it's a monster that's keeping everyone asleep?" Lisanna asked. "How do we defeat it?"

"I don't know," Carla answered with a sigh, turning the book back around to herself. "The words on this page are even more faded than any of the others."

"What's it called, then?" Happy asked, hopping onto the bed and peering at it with her.

"I don't know that either," Carla repeated. "The name is just as worn-out as the rest of the writing."

"So what are we supposed to do if we can't read the book?" I asked, somewhat exasperated.

"Lisanna, I want you to go and give this book back to Levy," Carla said, handing it over to the short-haired girl. "If anyone can figure out what the writing says, it's her."

"Got it," Lisanna replied with a nod. She then left the infirmary to go give the book to Levy. My eyes followed her retreating figure, only turning back around when I heard my name.

"Natsu, I want you to take Happy and go find some help," Carla told me, and I frowned at her.

"Why?" I asked. If I was gonna do anything, it would be to stay here and look after Lucy.

"If we end up having to fight that thing then we're going to need the help," the exceed answered. "It's an ancient creature after all, so it's most likely going to be really strong."

"Okay," I agreed reluctantly to go looking for help. "Who do you want me to look for?"

"I want you to find Erza and Gray," Carla told me. "If you find anyone else that could help us then bring them here, too."

"But popsicle pants isn't going to believe me when I tell him about what's going on!" I protested instantly.

"Then get Erza first," the cat sighed. "If Gray won't listen to you, then he'll without a doubt listen to her."

"She's right, Natsu!" Happy agreed with her. "Gray will definitely listen to Erza! She's a scary lady!"

"I know...anyways, come on Happy," I responded. "Let's get going."

"Aye, sir!"

Happy and I left the guild after that and went to go look for the scarlet-haired mage.

* * *

 **Levy POV**

* * *

Pantherlily and I were looking through all of the books in the guild's library for any answers as to what was happening, while Gajeel was sitting on the floor.

"You know, you could help," I spoke up finally.

"I am helping," he responded.

"You're helping by sitting there and doing nothing?" I asked.

"No, I'm helping by making sure that neither of you fall asleep and don't wake up."

"Pantherlily's already doing that," I told him. "So either get up and help us look through the books or don't do anything."

"I'll go with the latter."

That caused me to groan in annoyance.

 _Why is he so lazy..._

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

"You don't have to knock," Pantherlily called to the person on the other side of the door. "Just come in."

I heard the door open and close as they entered into the room.

"Hi guys," the voice belonged to Lisanna.

"Hello, Lisanna," Pantherlily greeted her. "Is there something you need?"

"No, but we found something in the book Levy gave to Natsu."

"Really? What is it?" I asked as Pantherlily and I came out to take a look at what they had found.

"Check it out," she replied. Lisanna opened the book and skimmed through the pages until she found the one that she was looking for. She then proceeded to hand it to me.

"What's so important about this picture?" Pantherlily asked, flying up to get a look at the page.

"The creature in the picture fits the description of the Lucy I saw in my dream," the Strauss girl answered. "Sharp teeth, some of the body being completely black, and if the picture was in color then I'm sure it would have turquoise eyes, too."

"So that means this page could have the answers that we're looking for!" I said excitedly, before frowning as I looked further at the page. "We just have to figure out a way to read what's written in here."

"How are you gonna do that?" Gajeel asked from his spot on the floor. "That book is probably older than the old man."

"Maybe if we use a magnifying glass?" Pantherlily suggested.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," I said hopefully, heading over to the table where I had put the book down earlier.

Lisanna left the room and I picked up the magnifying glass that was lying on the table. I was about to use it to try and read the faded writing in the book, when I glanced up at the mirror. Catching sight of my reflection, I frowned. My eyes had faint shadows under them, and I looked like I hadn't slept in a while.

 _Geez, I look tired._ I thought, my hand drifting up to lightly graze my cheek. _I haven't been awake long enough for me to be tired, though...what's going on?_

"What's the matter, Levy?" Pantherlily's concerned voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, blinking as I tried to register his words.

"You were staring at yourself in the mirror," the exceed pointed out. "Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," I reassured him. "I just got lost in my thoughts for a second there."

"If you say so," he sounded a bit skeptical, but seemed to believe me for the moment.

I began to use the magnifying glass to read the crumbling text on the page.

"Is it working?" Gajeel asked.

"It's hard to tell what a lot of the words are, but it's kind of working," I answered, still peering at the text.

I slowly made my way through the entire page, learning a lot about the creature mentioned, but once I got to the end of the page and finished the final sentence, I couldn't stop myself from gasping.

"What's the matter, shorty?" Gajeel asked. "What's it say?"

I found myself unable to respond, shock grasping me like a vice-tight clamp.

"Levy? What does it say?" Gajeel asked again, finally getting up off the floor.

"I-it says..." I tried to speak, but my voice shuddered to a stop.

"It says what?" Pantherlily persisted.

"It says...that the creature doesn't allow th-the body to feel like its slept s-so that way, the victim will sleep more a-and more," I answered him shakily.

"What's so shocking about that?"

"After a while of being in a deep sleep, the victim dies," I explained. "If we don't do something, then Wendy, Lucy and Mirajane are all going to die."

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	5. Chapter 4: Spell of Slumber

**Nobody POV**

* * *

It was an hour later when Natsu and Happy returned to the guild with Erza, Gray, and Juvia in tow, only to find that the infirmary beds had been moved out into the guild hall with the tables and chairs being moved to make space for them.

"What's going on here?" Erza asked no one in particular.

The few people that had been in the guild hall before weren't there anymore.

"Why are you asking us?" Gray assumed, thinking that she was asking them. "We don't know anymore than you do."

"I wasn't asking you, Gray," she retorted.

Before the conversation could continue further, Levy came out of the guild's library with papers in her hands.

"Okay...hopefully I got everything," she mummbled to herself, before looking up from her papers. "Oh, you're back."

"Levy. What's going on here?" Erza asked the solid script mage.

"I'll explain everything in a bit," she answered. "For now, just sit down and let's wait for the others to get back."

They didn't see a reason not to so each of them sat down on one of the infirmary beds. Juvia of course, sat right next to Gray on the same bed that he was sitting on. The devil slayer made no move to protest her seating choice, just stayed silent, his usual stoic expression on his face.

"So where did the others go?" Happy asked Levy as she took a seat as well.

"They went looking for you a while ago, but they should be back pretty soon," Levy answered. "What took you guys so long anyways?"

"It took Natsu quite a while to find me, but it wasn't too hard to find Gray as he was nearby," Erza explained. "We spent a few minutes trying to find other people but the only person that we could find was Juvia."

"It's because Juvia was looking for..." She cut herself off. It would be a dumb idea to openly confess that she had kidnapped her love rival and Lisanna! No, she would keep her mouth shut. "Nevermind..."

"I'm guessing that everyone else is probably off on some sort of mission or errand?" Levy guessed.

"Either that, or whatever is happening to Mirajane, Wendy, and Lucy is happening to them, too," Gray guessed, his eyes holding a gleam of worry in them.

"I really hope that it's the first thing then," Happy said, looking down at the ground.

"Juvia hopes so too," the water mage agreed, wringing her hands together.

The six of them then proceeded to sit there making idle conversation, until Gajeel, Lisanna, Pantherlily, and Carla came back.

"Levy, we couldn't-" Lisanna's words stopped short upon noticing them. "They were here the whole time?"

"No, they got here a little while ago," Levy corrected her, and Lisanna was relieved that they hadn't wasted the whole time for nothing.

"What took you guys so long to get back?" Gajeel asked them.

"It took ash-for-brains over there a while to find Erza, but they found me pretty quickly since I was in the neighborhood," Gray explained, leaning back on his hands. "Then we spent a while trying to find other mages to help, but the only person we found was Juvia."

"So we're going up against that creature with just twelve people?" Carla asked no one in particular. She crossed her furry arms over her chest. "It's going to be a difficult fight, then."

"Creature? What are you talking about?" Erza frowned, not understanding. "What creature?"

"You haven't explained things to them yet?" Pantherlily asked Levy.

"No, I was waiting for everyone to be here so I didn't have to explain things twice," the blue haired girl answered. "But now that everyone is here, I'll start."

Levy stood up and moved to stand by the bar as the others sat down.

"Alright, so as you all know by now Lucy, Mirajane, and Wendy have all fallen into a deep sleep that they won't wake up from," she began, her eyes traveling over all the people present. "You guys _do_ know this, right?"

Erza, Gray, and Juvia all nodded as Natsu had already told them about what happened.

"Just making sure, but I believe that I've found the culprit," Levy continued.

"Who is...?" Gray asked.

Levy didn't respond as she took out a light pen with her free hand and drew a stick figure with the characteristics of the 'Lucy' that Lisanna described.

"This is the creature that's keeping the three of them asleep, I don't know what it's called because the page that talks about it in the book only refers to it as creature," she explained to them. "It's a dream dwelling creature that was thought to have gone extinct a long time ago."

"But it isn't extinct," Happy interrupted.

"Right, it isn't...the creature appears to people when they dream about its chosen domain, and continues to bring them back there for reasons that aren't stated in the book," Levy continued, her voice level. "The creature manipulates the victim's mind into thinking that it hasn't slept, which makes it so that the victim will sleep more and more."

Everyone stayed silent as they listened to every word that came out of Levy's mouth.

"Eventually, the creature doesn't want them to wake up anymore and makes it so that they won't wake up by pulling their entire mind into the dream world. This causes the skin to become cold, their breathing to slow down, and their pulse to slow down as well," Levy said, her voice becoming serious.

Once again, everyone stayed quiet, listening intently.

"When this happens then it's only a matter of time before the victim dies, with the time before death being different for every victim," Levy said softly.

"So you mean that thing is going to kill them?!" Natsu shouted, leaping up from his seat. His fists were clenched. "We can't let that happen!"

"For once I agree with him," Gray said begrudgingly. "There has to be something that we can do to stop this."

"I was getting to that...there's a spell on the next page of the book that apparently can send people into the dream world to rescue the victim from the creature," Levy stated. "If we use it, then we can go into the dream world and save them."

"How does the spell work?" Erza asked, her eyes focused on the short girl.

"You have to draw a symbol on the floor and everyone that wishes to go into the dream world must say the exact same sentence at the same time," Levy explained to the scarlet-haired woman.

"And what's that sentence?" Juvia asked curiously.

"Pass this paper around from person to person," Levy handed her one of the papers. "But whatever you do, don't say the sentence out loud."

They did as she said, and Levy then began to arrange the letters using her solid script magic. She formed the symbol on the floor in the middle of all the beds, as she didn't have anything else to make the symbol other than a light pen at the time. She had to constantly looked at the paper that she copied the symbol onto from the book to make sure that she didn't mess it up.

"Okay...does everyone know what we have to say?" She asked once she was done, receiving nods in response. "Good."

Levy turned her attention to Happy, Carla, and Pantherlily.

"I think that it'll be best if you guys stay out here," she told them.

"What?" Pantherlily asked. "Why can't we come with you?"

"Yeah...why can't they come with us, Levy?" Natsu asked.

"The book says that the spell is only meant for humans, and it'll kill an animal if it's used on them because their minds are weaker than a human's," she answered. "It doesn't say anything about exceeds, but I don't think we should risk it."

"Levy's right," Erza agreed with her, crossing her arms. "If the spell kills animals then we shouldn't risk using the spell on animals."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Carla asked, somewhat frustrated.

"You guys can keep an eye on us and make sure that nothing bad happens while we're in the dream world," Gray answered her question.

"You could also explain things to the people that come to the guild," Juvia added, happy to speak up for her beloved Gray.

"Yeah, and if anyone else get's taken by the creature then you guys will be here to take care of them," Lisanna said supportively. "Do you guys think you can do that?"

"Of course we can!" Happy answered in his usual upbeat manner. "Right guys?"

"Right," they both agreed with the blue exceed.

"Then off we go...I suggest that you all go and lie down on one of the empty beds, unless you want to fall over and sleep on the floor," Levy suggested.

Everyone did as she said and laid down on the infirmary beds, while the ones who were sitting on already taken beds got up and moved to an empty bed.

"Is everyone ready?" Levy asked them as she laid down. She got a chorus of 'yes' in reply.

"Okay...on three, we all say it at the same time," she told them.

* * *

 **Natsu POV**

* * *

I was lying on the bed that was right next to the one that Wendy was in.

"One..." Levy started to count.

I turned my head and looked at Wendy. Her face was peaceful, and her skin was pale. Too pale then it should ever be. Wendy should be smiling and happy and full of life, not lying comatose on a cot, her skin cold and her face void of joy. The thought made me grip the sheets of the cot I was laying on.

 _Don't worry._ I thought as if I was talking to her. _I'll be there before you know it._

"Two..." Levy continued.

 _And once I find you, I'll punch that monster so hard in the face that it'll wish that it would've never taken any of you._ My face was set in determination as I continued as if I was talking with the her. _I swear._

"Three!" Levy finished.

"Our loved ones have been taken by a creature most fowl, and we wish for nothing more then to save them from the terrible fate that the creature will, with no doubt, subject them to," we recited the sentence in unison. "So may the dream realm allow us entry into the creature's domain so that we may fulfill our wish to save them."

I felt a powerful magic appear in the room and I looked to see what was causing it with the others appearing to feel it too as they looked as well.

The symbol on the floor was glowing, and at the middle of it was an orb of magic that was changing color as it got bigger with every passing second.

It was as big as Happy when it stopped growing and stopped changing color, leaving it a plain white color. It did nothing for a few seconds and then beams of light shot from it.

Each of the beams hit us right between our eyes and stayed there. I could feel myself becoming more and more tired the longer that it remained there, until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

My vision became blurred and my eyes started to slide closed, but right before they closed, I saw the beams retracting into the orb as it quickly shrunk down to the size of a pebble and started to change colors yet again.

And the next thing that I knew I dozed off into a deep sleep, and the sensation felt like I was falling.

I didn't panic though, because I knew wherever I was falling to, it was into the dream world where everyone else was.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	6. Chapter 5: Realm of Dreams

**Creature POV**

* * *

I was pacing around in front of the telescope tree, biting my knuckles nervously with my sharp teeth as I took the form of Lisanna.

"Dammit! Where could she of run off to?!" I hissed, ignoring the wound my teeth had caused. "She should be right here!"

I had left Lucy alone while she was napping underneath the branches of the telescope tree to go make sure that Mirajane was being well taken care of, but when I got back, she had vanished.

"I don't see the scarf anywhere, so she couldn't have taken it off," I continued my frantic pacing. "But if she didn't take it off, then where could she have gone!?"

"Lisanna?"

I quickly made my sharp teeth disappear, healed the bite on my hand, and dimmed my turquoise eyes so they wouldn't be noticed before turning around to see Lucy approaching me.

"Lucy! There you are!" I felt so relieved to see her. Especially with the scarf still wrapped safely around her neck. "Where did you go?"

"I just went on a short walk around the island," the blonde explained, before frowning. "Where were you?"

"I had to check up on something real quick," I answered. "I'm so happy to see that you didn't leave me!"

"Well, why would I leave you?" she asked. "I did promise I'd never leave, after all."

"Right, you did. And you also said that we'll be friends forever," a smiled graced my face as I spoke.

"Yup, I did say that," Lucy confirmed with a nod.

"Which I'm so very happy about!"

We stood there for a while speaking with each other, before I began to feel other presences appear one by one in the realm of dreams.

 _So they learned about the spell, huh?_ I thought to myself, the corners of my mouth tugging downwards. _Well, they won't take her from me...they won't take any of them away from me._

"Lisanna? Are you okay?" Lucy asked me in a concerned tone.

"Hm?"

"You look like something's bothering you," she said, her eyes crinkling in a worried manner. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine! Don't worry!" I reassured her, pasting a happy smile back on my face. "Listen...how about we go hang out with Gray? We'll build snowmen and make snow angels together!"

"Gray's here?" her chestnut shaded eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Of course he is! This is your dream after all, and anyone you want can be here!" I told her cheerfully, before extending my hand out to her. "Now come on! We shouldn't keep him waiting, shall we?"

"We shouldn't," Lucy said with a smile, taking her hand in mine.

"Right, we shouldn't! Now let's go!"

I gripped Lucy's hand tightly as I began to lead her away from the telescope tree, going to hang out with 'Gray'.

* * *

 **Erza POV**

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When I opened my eyes I was in shock, and I was falling. My perception of time distorted, everything slowing down until there was nothing, only me and the sky above; the sky that seemed to swallow me whole. My hand reached out, kissing the sky, grasping the endless crevasse of blue desperately. Everything was a blur, a blur that swirled out of existence. And then fear took hold of my heart.

"OH SHIT!" I swore, panicking; toppling from this height would surely kill me. I started to take deep breaths, attempting to calm myself down as my scarlet hair whipped around my face.

"Okay, okay, stay calm...this is a dream," I reminded myself. "I won't die. I can't die in a dream."

I continued trying to calm down until I was distracted when my body collided with the branches of a tree.

"Ack! Ow! What the- Why does this- Ah!" My voice came out pained as I hit branch after branch, which actually slowed down my descent.

I ended up falling into a large pile of autumn leaves. The leaves managed to cushion my fall enough to make it so that I wasn't killed or seriously injured, thankfully.

"Oof!" I exclaimed as I made contact. I sat up slowly after a few seconds, getting on my knees rather than sitting on my belly. A few dried leaves were tangled in my hair, giving off a crinkling sound when I turned my head.

Looking down, I scooped up some leaves into my palm, examining them. The leaves in my hand are more dry than my mouth. I close my fist over them and feel them shatter; I don't need to open it again to know that the once whole forms are now only fragments of what they once were. On the tree they were first buds, then the soft green of spring before maturing to a splendid dark foliage. But alone on the ground they are brittle, weak and the brown that comes before decay. I open my hand and watch them fall with the same motion as spring petals but without the beauty.

Gathering myself back up, I began to analyze my situation.

 _Why did that hurt?_ I asked myself, a frown forming on my face. _This is a dream...things shouldn't be able to hurt me in a dream._

I glanced myself over to assess my injuries, finding that I had quite a few bruises and a couple of small cuts. But other than that, I was unharmed.

 _Well, this is the creature's world, so it probably has complete control over what happens here._ I assumed. _It is kind of a weird choice to make things feel pain, though. Perhaps for torture purposes?_

The thought of that made me regain my composure, lifting myself from the floor of grass and leaves blanketing the ground.

 _Never mind that._ I shrugged it off, and dislodged the leaves ensnared in my hair with my fingers. _I have to go find everyone else._

I began to walk through the strange forest, passing by all sorts of trees until something crashed down right in front of me, sending the leaves to go flying and some branches to come falling with it. Down they come like multicolored rain; Golds, reds and browns. They are a myriad of shapes and sizes, these leaves that clothed the trees. Now, they are discarded like last season's fashions and left to become part of the soil.

"OOF!"

Whoever they were, they had obviously hit the ground harder than me.

I couldn't see who it was due to the leaves, but it sounded like they weren't hurt too severely. Once that thought was out of the way, my mind drifted back to the question of whom the person was.

"Why the hell did I fall out of the sky?" the mystery person grumbled as they laid amongst the leaves. "Couldn't I have just appeared on the ground or something?"

"Natsu?" I asked, recognizing the voice.

A well-timed breeze blew the leaves off of the person, allowing me to see it was indeed Natsu that had crashed down. Eyes the color of deep forest pools flickered up to me, while he still lay flat on the ground.

"Oh hey Erza," the fire dragon slayer greeted me, shifting to a sitting position. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but my guess is we're in the dream world," I responded to him, not being too surprised about the fact he wasn't much more hurt than I.

"What's with all of the different trees?" he inquired, standing up off the ground. He started dusting off the leaves clinging to his body.

"Remember, Natsu? This is a dream, and anything is possible here," I reminded him. "Anyways, come on...we have to find the others."

"Wait! Did you say that anything is possible here?" Natsu asked hopefully, and I nodded. "Then I wish that I was a dragon!"

A few seconds passed with nothing happening.

"Aww..." he pouted, looking disappointed. "Why didn't it work?"

"Seeing as we can feel pain here, we must exist as normal people in this place. Which means you don't have the powers that you would normally have in dreams," I explained to him. "Now come on already..."

"Alright," he grumbled, sounding upset about not having cool dream powers.

Natsu and I began to walk through the forest in search of the others, the woodland seeming ominously quiet. We paused, now that even the sound of our own footfalls was silent, all that could be heard was the susurration of the leaves in the gusty wind. Looking up, I was transfixed by the fluttering leaves that danced in the high boughs, making a living roof above me. I was calmed, almost hypnotized, but the longer I stared the more the leaves looked like eyes staring back down at me, and the boughs seemed to draw closer, blocking the sunlight as if they were forming a cage around us. We quickly continued on our path after that.

Eventually, we stumbled across a small pond where a girl with wavy blue hair was facing away from us, appearing to be staring at her reflection in the water. Immediately, I recognized that it was Juvia.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu called out to the water mage.

She didn't respond to his voice.

"Juvia?"

"..."

We walked closer to her, unease beginning to form.

"Juvia? Can you hear us?" I asked her hesitantly, but didn't get a reply from her either.

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat loudly to get her attention. "Juvia!"

"Huh?" she was snapped out of her trance and turned around to face us. "How long have you been there?"

"We've been here for a little while," Natsu told her, frowning at her. "Didn't you hear us calling to you?"

"No, Juvia was distracted by all of the fish in the pond," she explained, pointing toward the water.

We looked into the pond, and saw that there were numerous kinds of amphibious life in there.

 _So there's all kinds of trees everywhere, and now there's all sorts of fish in this pond? Strange._ I thought to myself. _Did the creature just go wild with putting things in this part of the world or something?_

"Juvia is sorry," she apologized, bowing her head at us.

"Don't worry about it, Juvia," Natsu waved her off. "Now, let's go find the others."

Juvia joined us, and we continued walking through the forest looking for the rest of the group. Eventually, we came across Gray, who was lying on the ground next to a pile of rocks.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaimed, rushing over to him immediately. She dropped to her knees beside him, pulling the unmoving devil slayer into her arms.

"Gray-sama! Speak to Juvia!" she pleaded, shaking his shoulders.

"Calm down, Juvia...he's not dead," Natsu said with a frown.

"Natsu's right," I agreed. I could see Gray's chest moving up and down at a regular pace. "He's still breathing."

"Then what happened to Gray-sama?!" Juvia demanded.

Gray groaned, his arctic blue eyes cracking open.

"It looks like we're about to find out," Natsu replied, crossing his tanned arms.

"Huh...? Juvia?" Gray groaned, blinking his eyes. "Where'd you come from?"

"Juvia found Gray-sama like this with Erza and Natsu!" Juvia told him, before embracing him tightly. "But Juvia is so very happy that her beloved isn't hurt!"

"Urk! J-Juvia! L-let me go!" the ice mage exclaimed, as she seemed to be hugging him way too hard for his liking. Or his health.

"Oh! Sorry, Gray-sama!" she apologized quickly, letting go of him.

"So what happened, Gray?" I asked him as Natsu and I walked over to the two of them.

"I was chasing some brown haired girl in her pajamas, might have been Cana, when I tripped over these rocks and smacked my head on the ground," he answered. "Don't ask what she looked like, because I never saw her face."

"Alright, I won't," I frowned.

Juvia got up off of the ground and pulled Gray to his feet. The ice wizard looked at Natsu, piercing blue eyes meeting warm olive ones.

"Asshole," he greeted the dragon slayer.

"Douchebag," Natsu said back.

"Stop it," I snapped, somewhat disturbed by their 'greeting'. As we began to walk off, we failed to notice that one of the rocks the ice mage had gotten up from was splattered with a small amount of blood.

After that, we walked through the forest with Gray and Natsu sending each other death glares and mumbling insults underneath their breath as we looked for the others.

A horrible smell began to assault our noses as we walked, which only got worse as we got closer, eventually finding the source of the smell to be ginkgo trees. And with Gajeel being smack-dab at the middle of them, using his hand to cover his nose.

"Ugh...this stuff smells awful," his voice came out muffled by his hand. "I think I'm gonna puke."

His crimson eyes darted up, noticing our presence there.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" the iron dragon slayer demanded. "I've been looking for ya since I fell out of the freaking sky!"

"We've been looking for everyone else, just like you have," I answered calmly.

"Also, why didn't you just leave if those trees smell so bad?" Natsu butted in.

"I didn't know if you guys were over here," he grumbled. "So like it or not, I had to search."

"And why didn't you just yell?" Natsu asked again.

"You really think it's a good idea to yell in a place like this?" Gajeel scoffed. "Geez, you're stupider than I thought."

"Hey!" Natsu sounded offended.

"You two can argue later, but for now let's get out of here," Gray interrupted the conversation, rubbing the back of his head. "The smell is starting to get to me."

"It already got to me..." Gajeel mumbled.

The iron mage joined us after that, and we continued walking through the forest, trying to steer clear from any ginkgo trees as they smelled retched.

After a while of walking we came across Lisanna, who was standing in the middle of a large pile of leaves from all of the trees that I had seen. She was digging through the pile, appearing to be looking for something.

"Uhhh...Lisanna? What are you doing?" Gray asked her tentatively.

She halted and looked up at us.

"Oh, hey guys," she greeted us. "Sorry that I didn't come looking for you, but I lost Lucy's hair ribbon."

"What? Bunny girl's hair ribbon?" Gajeel asked, only to receive a nod in response. "How do you have that?"

"It was lying in a puddle and it was how I found Lucy when she was kidnapped by Juvia," the Strauss girl answered. "After Juvia knocked me out, I assumed that she had taken it, but I realized that I still had it when it fell out of my pocket while I was falling."

"Wait...what? Juvia kidnapped you and Luce?" Natsu asked, looking over at Juvia who had a guilty expression on her face.

"Yes, she did, but can we forget about that for now?" Lisanna said with a sigh. "We have bigger things to worry about at the moment."

"Lisanna's right," I agreed. "We'll talk about this once we save everyone and get out of the dream world, Juvia."

"Anyways...can you guys help me find her hair ribbon? It's blue," Lisanna requested, and she went back to searching for it.

We nodded, and began to aid her search for Lucy's hair ribbon in the large pile of leaves.

"Found it," Gajeel said finally, holding up the topaz colored ribbon in his large hand.

"Thanks, Gajeel," Lisanna thanked him, and she went over and took it from him.

"No problem," he responded causally.

Lisanna tied Lucy's hair ribbon around her wrist instead of putting it in her pocket, and joined us as we went looking for the last member of our group. It didn't take long for us to find her, as she actually found us. There was a odd white dove perched on her shoulder, but it flew away as soon as Levy noticed us, so we didn't pay too much attention to it.

"Oh, there you guys are," she didn't seem to notice that the dove had flown away, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Hey, shrimp," Gajeel greeted her. "What was with that bird and why'd it fly away?"

"It flew away?" she looked at her shoulder to find it gone. "Aww..."

"Why do you look sad?" he asked her. "You know that bird isn't real, right?"

"Of course I know that! But it brought some of my pages to me a few minutes after I hit the ground, and it also helped me look for you all," Levy huffed.

"Well that was nice of it," Lisanna smiled.

"You're right, it was," Levy responded. "But anyways, now that we're all together...does anyone have any questions that they want to ask?"

"Are there any bathrooms?"

"Natsu, you can use a bush," I hissed, and he grumbled something indistinguishable.

"I have one," Gray spoke up, and Levy looked at him.

"Ask away."

"How big is this place?"

"Well, seeing as the creature most likely has complete control over this place, then I'd guess that it created areas to act as paradises for their victims," she answered. "And to avoid them from figuring out that this place isn't just a normal dream, it probably made those areas very large so the victim wouldn't wander off and reach the edge of their area."

"If that's the case, then this place is most likely gigantic," I pointed out.

"If it's so big then how are we gonna find them?" Gajeel asked.

"We'll just have to wander around an area until we either find them or the creature, or something else," Levy responded. "I know that it isn't the most solid plan, but what other choice do we have?"

"Good point...should we split up?" Juvia asked.

"No, we definitely shouldn't. If we come across the creature alone, then we're as good as dead. It's an ancient creature after all, so it has to be powerful."

"Alright, now if no one has anymore questions we should get going," I said.

"But which way should we go?"

I felt a light push on my shoulder that moved me slightly. Glancing over to see who pushed me, I didn't see anything, but I did hear the faint flapping of wings. I brushed this off as nothing.

"What's the matter, Erza?" Lisanna asked.

"I felt something push me toward that way," I replied, pointing in the direction. "It was really light, but I swear that someone pushed me."

"Huh...that's weird..." Gray frowned. "Maybe it was just the wind?"

"Or maybe someone's trying to give us a push in the right direction?" Juvia guessed.

"I wouldn't say that it's impossible," Levy reasoned.

"Then it's settled!" Natsu decided. "We're heading that way, which my nose is telling me is north!"

Without waiting for a response, Natsu began to run in the direction I pointed out without waiting for us.

"H-hey! Natsu! Don't run off on your own!" Lisanna called to him, chasing after her childhood crush.

We followed after Natsu, yelling at him to slow down and come back, but of course he didn't listen to us as he sprinted away.

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	7. Chapter 6: Dopplegangers

**Gray POV**

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After a while of chasing after that idiot, he suddenly stopped, which allowed us to catch up with him.

"Are you trying t- mMMPH!?" Gajeel wasn't able to finish his sentence as Natsu slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shh," the fire wizard commanded, his olive eyes locked like a magnet on something he was viewing.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him incredulously. "And what are you looking at?"

"That," Natsu pointed with his free hand at something.

We looked at what he was gesturing to, and saw something that both surprised and shocked us.

"Wha ta fuc?" Gajeel's voice was muffled by Natsu's hand.

There was Cana, standing in her pajamas, talking to a exact duplicate of Erza, who was also dressed in her pajamas; they were talking so quietly, however, that I couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Why is there another Erza? And why is Cana here?" Lisanna asked in confusion. "I know that this is the dream world, and they aren't real, but how did the creature make them?"

"Yeah...I'm pretty sure that it has never seen Cana or Erza, so they shouldn't even be here," I added with a frown. "And I don't think that they can be the creature, because there's two of them."

"Well, it's obvious that they aren't the creature...they don't have any of the features of it," Erza pointed out. Observing them again, I could see she was right. They looked completely normal.

"Do you have any idea on what's going on?" Natsu asked, his eyes looking at Levy.

"I don't know, but maybe there's something in my research," she responded, beginning to shuffle through the papers for any useful information.

"Wood oo get er han oof mah mout?" Gajeel's voice was once again muffled by Natsu's hand. Translation: Would you get your hand off my mouth?

"Huh? What'd you say?" Natsu asked, turning his attention onto the iron mage.

"Get er han oof mah mout," Gajeel commanded. Translation: Get your hand off my mouth.

"What?"

Gajeel just groaned, and I'm pretty sure that he licked Natsu's hand judging by how fire dragon slayer reacted.

"EW!" Natsu yelled as he ripped his hand off of Gajeel's face.

That alerted the other Erza and Cana, causing them to look in our direction and spot us. However, they just stared at us, not saying anything.

"Uhhh...hello?" Juvia awkwardly greeted them after a few seconds of silence.

The two of them didn't speak as they both took off in separate directions; the other Erza ran north as Cana ran east.

"Why'd they run away?" Juvia asked, sounding sad. "Juvia only said hello..."

"I don't know, but they probably have information on where the others are," Erza assumed, standing up with a resolute expression set on her face. "The question is, which one do we go after?"

"The other Erza ran north, and we're already heading north, so naturally we should chase after the other Erza," Lisanna suggested.

"Then what are we standing around for? She's getting away!" Natsu exclaimed, jumping up. Without waiting for a response from us, he ran off to go and chase the other Erza.

"Dammit! Stop running off on your own, flamebrain!" I yelled in frustration.

We sprinted after him, but we were able to catch up with him this time, seeing as he was moving slower than before. Most likely to look for any signs that the other Erza changed the direction that she was running in.

We ran for a while, keeping an eye out for the other Erza, but after some time, we came across something that made us halt in our tracks.

"Whoa..."

The area that we found ourselves had not many trees in it. It had quite a few hills that varied in sizes, with neatly trimmed grass that was a vibrant shade of green. Snap dragons and poppies were planted everywhere, with them being arranged to look like a guild mark that was familiar to me, but I couldn't place my finger on what guild mark it was. I decided I would get back to that thought later.

The sky was a uplifting lazuline, and the clouds in it were wrought like all manner of things, from hearts to dogs to crowns. There were small islands floating in the sky, the breeze felt absolutely wonderful on my face, and mountains jutted up in the distance.

"Is this one of those areas that you were talking about, Levy?" Gajeel asked, not taking his scarlet eyes away from the glorious scene displayed before us.

"There's no way that it isn't," I answered for her.

"But the question, is who's area is this?" Juvia wondered aloud, looking around in amazement.

"I'm not sure, but my best guess would be Wendy," Erza answered. "This does seem like the kind of place that she would like, after all."

"Yeah, it does," Lisanna agreed with her. "This place is truly beautiful though...it's obvious that the creature put a lot of work into creating it."

"Well, the creature wants them to be in a paradise, so of course it's going to put a lot of work into the victim's personal heaven," Levy explained. "I have to agree though, this is really beautiful."

"If we weren't on a mission to save the others, then Juvia would like to spend time here. Preferably on a picnic with Gray-sama~" Juvia cooed, causing me to sigh.

"Okay, okay...we've established that this place is pretty cool...can we get going now?" Natsu asked, a frown etched onto his face. He didn't seem to be hypnotized by the view like the rest of us were.

"Don't you guys remember that we have to save the others from that thing?" Gajeel reprehended them, crossing his buff arms.

"And the other Erza is getting farther and farther away with every second that we waste here. Come on," I added, putting a bit of authority in my voice when I spoke.

"There's no harm in stopping and enjoying the scenery for a bit..." Lisanna mused without thinking.

We stayed quiet, giving Lisanna a few seconds to mull over what she had just said.

"...unless your friends are in danger of getting killed by an ancient dream dwelling creature," Lisanna remembered what was going on. "Okay, let's get going."

"Yes, let's go," Erza stated.

We were about to head into what I assumed was Wendy's personal paradise, when we were stopped by a voice.

"H-hey! Stop right there!"

We paused, and turned around to see who or what had spoken.

Someone was running towards us, and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out laughing at their appearance when they stopped in front of us.

"Stop laughing at me, you jerks!" they sounded angry that I was laughing. Gajeel started to howl with laughter as well, but that didn't seem to make them any angrier then they already were.

The person in front of us was another Natsu, but he was dressed in an animal onesie that looked like Happy. He was also dragging a large red plush dragon along the ground behind him.

"S-squinty eyes! Th-the ot-other y-you i-is we-wearing a da-damn animal on-onesie!" I was stuttering due to how much I was laughing.

"A-and he h-has a stu-stuffed animahaahahal!" Gajeel pointed out, unable to finish his sentence before breaking into fits.

"I'm not blind, you assholes!" Natsu barked at us before turning his attention to his doppelgänger. "What's with the getup?! You look so...so girly!"

"It's not girly! It's cool!" the other Natsu snapped at him. "Fuck you!"

"Juvia thinks it's sort of cute," Juvia voiced her opinion on it.

"Not the exact impression I want of it, but thank you anyway," he turned his attention to Juvia. "By the way...are those two ever gonna stop laughing at me?"

"Give them a minute," Erza stated.

Natsu#2 waited there patiently for Gajeel and I to stop our laughing fit, which we did after a while.

"Are you finished?" he was glaring at us now.

"Y-yeah...yeah, I think so," I was still stuttering a bit.

"Good," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what's the matter? Why did you stop us, Natsu?" Levy asked him.

"Wha-? I-I'm not Natsu!" that question appeared to make him very uncomfortable, as he started to fidget with his feet nervously.

"Then who the heck are you?!" Natsu demanded. "And why do you look like me?"

"I'm...uhhh...um..." he furrowed his brows, apparently thinking before his eyes landed on his dragon plush. "Dragon...I'm Dragon..."

"Okay, Dragon...why did you stop us?" Levy repeated her question, including his name this time.

"You can't go in there," he answered. "Master won't be happy at all if you go in there, so you have to go home right now."

"Sorry, but there's no way we're waking up," Erza assumed that he wanted them to wake up. "Our friends are in here and they're in danger, so we aren't leaving unless they wake up too. So if you'll excuse us, we'll be going now."

"No wait!" he stopped us again. "You really have to go home! You have to!"

"Like Erza said...we ain't waking up unless they wake up too," Gajeel repeated part of what Erza had said.

"Uhhh...one moment please!" Dragon pleaded. "Don't go anywhere, okay?"

He didn't wait for a response as he quickly turned around, his back facing towards us.

"Master isn't gonna be happy if they stay...oh no, Master won't be happy in the slightest. In fact Master is gonna be very angry," he spoke to himself. "But what can I do if they won't go home?"

Dragon began to go over plans to get us to leave as his back was turned to us. After a few seconds of listening to him talk to himself, I glanced at the others.

"Psst...guys..." I whispered, trying to gain their attention.

They looked at me and gave me 'what?' looks.

"Let's sneak away while he's distracted," I whispered. "Who knows how long we're gonna be here if we stay."

"Alright, let's ditch him," Natsu was open to the idea.

We turned around and began to sneak away while Dragon's back was turned to us.

"Ah-ha! I know!" he exclaimed.

I didn't need to look at him to know that he turned around to face us.

"Hey! G-get back here!" he commanded, seeing that we had taken the opportunity to sneak away.

We could hear his feet against the ground as he chased after us, causing us to break out into a run. Luckily, this version of Natsu was nowhere near as fast as our Natsu, so we were quickly able to outrun him.

"Come back!" he ordered, his voice starting to get distant.

I heard him groan loudly out of pure frustration and annoyance. Looking over my shoulder to see if he had stopped chasing, I was suddenly smacked in the face by Dragon's -surprisingly hard- dragon plush, which he had thrown at us. Or more specifically, me.

"Ack! What's in that thing?!" I yelled at him as we continued to run. "A freaking rock?!"

"It's just a stuffed animal, you pansy!" Dragon yelled back at me as he stopped to catch his breath. "Don't be such a damn wuss!"

"Even a person that looks like me manages to kick your ass with a stuffed animal of all things," Natsu smirked at me as we ran. "How does that feel, ice princess?"

"Oh shut up," I grumbled. _Stupid fire-breathing douche..._

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	8. Chapter 7: Lone Knight

**Erza POV**

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After we were sure that we had lost Dragon, we slowed down our run to a walk in order catch our breaths.

"I still can't believe that you got hurt by a stuffed animal of all things," Natsu wasn't dropping the subject. "It's like it's too good to be true."

"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?" Gray frowned at his rival.

"Nope," the son of Igneel smiled back.

"Fine then, I'm not letting you live down the fact that he was wearing an animal onesie and holding a stuffed animal, too," Gray declared.

"Well fuck you too then," Natsu's smile turned into a frown.

"Why can't you two just get along?" I sighed, looking back at them. "It's not that hard."

"For them, it's probably the hardest task in existence," Lisanna joked. "So it would probably be a miracle if they managed to get along."

"That doesn't mean that they can't try," I kept my gaze on the two rivals, "so you two either shut up or get along, understood?"

They both nodded nervously in response.

"Good."

I looked away from them and we all continued walking until we came across some patches of flowers. Some of the flowers in them appeared to be trampled, the broken stems and smushed petals making it evident.

"It looks like someone was in a hurry," Juvia observed. "Do you think that it could be Wendy?"

"Wendy? Trample flowers? I doubt it..." Natsu stated skeptically.

"And besides, why would Wendy be running fast enough to trample flowers in a place like this?" Gray spoke up, for once agreeing with the fire mage.

"Then maybe it was that other Erza we saw?" Gajeel suggested.

"If it is, then she shouldn't be too far away," Levy said.

"And why's that?" Gray asked, turning his attention onto the solid script mage.

"If she ran this far without stopping for a breath, then she shouldn't have long before she has to pause for a breather."

"Then we better catch up with her before she can catch her breath," Lisanna said with determination.

We followed the trail of flowers that had trampled, until we finally caught up to my double. She was facing away from us, hunched over with her hands on her knees as she panted heavily. Her hair hung down, covering her face but I knew it was her.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted, trying to snare her attention.

"Dr-Dragon? Is...is that you?" she wheezed out between breaths.

She glanced over her shoulder with timid eyes that quickly became wide and fearful when she saw us. She stood up straight, turning around and gasping.

"Calm down, it's okay," Juvia was quick to reassure her. "We're not here to hurt you."

She didn't listen as she began to back away from us, her amber eyes unblinking and full of distrust.

"Don't run away, we just want to ask you some questions," Lisanna tried to speak calmly her as well.

Once again, she didn't listen to us and continued backing away.

"Would you calm down?!" Gajeel snapped impatiently. "We ain't here to hurt ya! We just said that for Mavis' sake!"

"Eep!" she flinched, freezing in place.

"Wow...the other you is a real scaredy cat, Erza," Gray pointed out.

"I can see that," I responded, not caring too much about the fact that the other me was a pansy.

"Okay, so like Lis said, we're just gonna ask you a few questions," Natsu reminded her. "Where's Wendy? Where are you keeping her? And where's Lucy?"

She didn't respond, appearing to be too petrified as she stared at us with wide eyes.

"Can you hear me or are you deaf?" Natsu began to approach her.

"Natsu, do-!"

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

"If you don't want me to come closer then answer my-"

She reached behind her for something that appeared to be underneath her shirt seeing as her shirt began to slightly move.

"Get away from her Na-!"

"STAY _AWAY!_ "

She whipped out a plush sword that was just as big as a real one, swinging it at Natsu. Luckily, he managed to dodge it in time leaving only a small slash on his arm which blood began to slowly ooze from.

"What the-? That thing's stuffed, right?" he sounded confused. "Then why did it cut me?"

"Who's getting beat up with a stuffed animal now?" Gray taunted him.

"Oh shut up!" Natsu snapped at the devil slayer, losing his focus.

"I told you to not come any closer, but you didn't listen," the other me glared at him. "Now you're gonna pay."

She rose her plush sword upwards, looking like she was planning to strike Natsu with it, but I acted quickly. Sprinting in front of Natsu and blocking her plush sword with my own real one, she looked at me with surprise before quickly regaining her composure.

"I refuse to let you harm my friends," my tone was serious as I met her glare with my own.

"You didn't listen to me either," she ignored my words. "Why the hell does no one ever listen to me?!"

"Listen up!" I raised my voice to get the attention of the others.

"Don't worry Erza," Gray got into his telltale maker magic stance. "We got your back in this fight."

"That's not what I was going to say..." I told him. "You all go on ahead, I'll take care of this."

"When that monster could literally be anywhere and anyone?" Natsu demanded. "No way!"

I glanced over my shoulder at them and gave them an authoritative look.

"Don't argue with me," I commanded, my tone deadly. "Go. I'll catch up with you once I'm done here."

Everyone seemed very reluctant to leave me there.

"Now!"

That was the push they needed as they walked past, leaving me and her alone.

"Once I'm done with you, I'll be sure to go after your friends and punish them to," my doppelgänger threatened.

"Then I'll be sure to defeat you," I wasn't going to let happen. No one messes with Fairy Tail and gets away with it.

She kicked me away to get her plush sword free from mine without risking any damage, and then came at me with it. I dodged her attack with ease, slashing at her with my sword only for her to dodge as well.

"You're going to regret ever crossing paths with me!" she spat.

"You picked the wrong guild to screw with," I growled.

The fight continued with both of us sustaining damage. As expected, we were evenly matched. However, she was the one with the most injuries due to the fact that she was in pajamas and I was equipped with armor, but she still refused to give up. That is, until I delivered a long, deep slash across her chest.

"ARGH!" she cried out as she quickly jumped back.

She held her chest with her free hand, trying to stop the blood that was beginning to pour out of it. It coated her hand in crimson, and immediately started to dye her pajamas with a dark red hue. My eyes widened in horror.

"Oh my...what have I..." I didn't realize how much strength I had put behind my attack, and now it was too late. My actions could not be undone, time could not be reversed.

"N-no...everything...is g-going to...*cough*going t-to be...okay..." she wheezed shakily, tried to reassure herself.

She fell to the ground with a thump. I dropped my sword on the ground then to my knees beside her, pulling her into my arms as I tried to give her some form of comfort.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized to her, my voice coming out choked. To think that two people who had just been quarreling with the intent to kill, were now trying to save the other from the grim fate of death. "I didn't realize how much strength I put behind my attack, and I di-"

"Shhh...it's f-fine..." she quieted me. "In a w-way, I guess you can s-say that you did me a f-favor..."

"What?"

"Everyone that I k-knew and loved died violently, and everything that I c-cared for was taken from me...m-my part of this world i-is nothing more than a shadow of its former self now..." she gasped. "With no h-home and no loved ones left, I-I began wandering, a-and I waited for the day that I w-would finally die."

She gazed up at me, a weak smile on her already pale face.

"I had always v-vowed that I wouldn't let myself die until I d-deserved it, but now that I lay dying here in your arms after t-trying to hurt you and your friends..." she croaked out. "I believe th-that I finally deserve to die. But I'm a-afraid that the only thing that I can offer you is a thank you and s-some information that may p-prove useful to you..."

"Don't worry...that...that's more than enough..." I tried to reassure her, but my voice came out strained.

"Is i-it? That's reassuring..." she sounded relieved. "I'm a-afraid that I do not know where your Wendy is, but I do know the l-location of another one of the dreamers...if...if y-you keep going north from here, you'll...you'll find an entrance to a c-cave..."

"And one of them is on the other side of the cave?" I guessed.

"Yes..." she answered as her eyes began to droop.

"Wait...don't die yet, please..." I pleaded.

"And why...why is that?"

"I don't even know your name...you should at least tell me your name so you won't be forgotten," I answered.

"Very well...m-my name is...is Knight...because I am the guardian who...who protects everyone...though I suppose I'm...I'm a failure as I...I can't protect anyone..." she was struggling to talk. "Look on the...bright side though...you are no...no failure and you will...continue to succeed..."

"Knight...I swear that I will never forget your name, and never forget you either..." I swore.

"I would hope...you wouldn't...you could be..." she said something that I couldn't make out after that.

"What?" I asked.

"Thank...you...thank...you...thank...you...thank..."

Her eyes shut and she stopped breathing, her body stilling in my arms.

"May you rest in peace," I said softly, lying her down on the grass.

Her body began to fade away, as something else appeared it in its place; it was a small rag doll plush version of her with nub limbs and brown button eyes.

 _This must be what happens when people like Knight pass away._ I thought to myself.

I went to pick it up, but before my hand could come into contact with it, the white dove that had been sitting on Levy's shoulder earlier swooped in and flew away with Knight's plush form held in its talons.

"I can only hope that it doesn't do anything bad to her," I knew that I wouldn't be able to get it back.

I got up off of the ground and picked up my sword. I stared at Knight's plush sword for a few seconds, before picking it up as well. Deciding to take it with me, I put it in my requip inventory.

I then sheathed my sword and attempted to clean the blood off myself, which took a while seeing as there wasn't much that I could use to clean myself here, before heading off to go catch up with the others.

"Erza!" Lisanna exclaimed in relief upon noticing me. "Thank Mavis you're okay!"

"Did you get her to tell you where Wendy or the others were being kept?" Gray asked.

"She didn't know where Wendy was, but she did know where someone else was," I answered.

"Really? Who is it?"

"She said that if we keep heading north then we'll find a cave, and if we go through it then we'll find one of the others," I answered, my voice sounding somewhat shaky.

"Are you okay, Erza?" Levy asked me with a frown. "You sound sad...what happened back there?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," I stated firmly.

"But it helps to-"

"I said that I don't wanna talk about it!" I cut her off. "So let's go already."

"Alright," Levy sounded unsure. "Let's go."

We continued walking north, looking for the cave that Knight had told me about, with me being unable to get my mind off her the entire time that we were walking.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	9. Chapter 8: Only a Lackey?

**Juvia POV**

* * *

After a while of walking, we had come across a particularly large hill with an opening in it. The grass seemed to sag into itself, creating a mass of darkness.

"Is this the cave that Erza was told about?" I said, unsure.

"Unless there's some kinda invisible cave around here, there's no way that it ain't," Gajeel responded sarcastically.

Natsu began to look around for another cave, only for Gajeel to smack him in the back of the head.

"Ack! What was that for, you jerk?!" Natsu shouted angrily.

"To get you to stop looking around for something that ain't there," Gajeel frowned at him.

"That didn't mean you had to hit me."

"Yes it does."

While they were talking, Lisanna walked into the cave and looked around.

"What's in there, Lisanna?" Levy asked her as she walked over to the entrance.

"There's a stone staircase leading underground, but I can't see much after that," the takeover mage answered. "It's too dark."

"I see..." Levy then turned her attention to Natsu. "Excuse me, Natsu."

"Hm?"

"It's too dark in there to see anything, so you'll have to light things up with your fire," she told him. "Do you think you can do that?"

"Of course I can!" he responded confidently, before heading into the cave. "Come on."

Without waiting for a response, Natsu rose up his hand and ignited it, lighting up the area around him. He then proceeded to walk down the stone steps into the darkness below.

We quickly followed after him, reaching an underground path. I looked at the walls as we walked, my mind drifting.

"Wait," I stopped the others upon spotting something.

"What is it?"

"There is something written on the wall," I told them, pointing to some red scribbles on the cave's wall.

"I'm bright but I'm not clever," Gray read it.

"What is?" Gajeel asked.

"Nothing...it ends there," he answered.

"If it ends there, then there's probably more," Levy pointed out. "We should keep an eye out for more writing."

"Yes, it could be useful," I agreed.

"How could scribbles on the wall be useful?" Natsu, as usual, didn't understand.

"Juvia doesn't isn't sure, but it could," I responded. "You never know, after all."

After that, we continued walking, keeping an eye out for anymore writing on the walls of the cave. It was a surprisingly dry cave, and a long one, as our steps echoed through the barren tunnel.

"I burn but I'm not a bonfire," I read writing that we passed by.

"I sound like I'm a celebrity but I'm not famous."

"I twinkle but I'm not an eye."

"I can be seen at night but I'm not the moon."

Each of the messages that we passed by were all written in red, and at least thirty seconds of walking apart from each other.

After passing by all of the messages, we came across a large stone door that had a bucket of red paint with a single paint brush next to it.

 _Huh? Who would leave this sitting here?_ I wondered.

Gajeel went over and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. It was almost like it was nothing more than a drawing on the wall instead of an actual door.

"It won't open," Gajeel said, sounding irritated.

"Maybe the paint has something to do with opening it?" Natsu guessed.

"How is paint going to help us open a door?" Gray asked skeptically.

"I don't know," he huffed. "Maybe there's some kind of spell on the door or something?"

"Then why would the paint bucket still be here if it was the key to opening the door?" Gray asked. "Wouldn't that thing have moved it?"

"Maybe someone else left it for us?" Gajeel suggested, before turning his attention to Levy. "What do you think?"

"I wouldn't say that someone else leaving it for us is impossible," Levy responded. "But if the way to open the door is by using the red paint, then we'll have to either draw or write something on the door."

"What are we supposed to draw, then?" Lisanna asked.

"I'm not sure," Levy answered.

Everyone began to talk about what they thought the answer could be, but I stayed out of the conversation because I was trying to figure it out on my own.

 _Hmmm...the messages from earlier may have something to do with this._ I thought as I stared at the paint bucket.

I began to repeat the messages in my head over and over again.

 _I twinkle but I'm not an eye...I can be seen at night but I'm not the moon..._ I thought. _Is the answer star?_

I decided to see if the answer was right, so while everyone was talking, I went over to the door, picked up the paint brush, dipped it into the paint, and drew a star on the door.

 _Star..._ I thought to myself as I wrote the word underneath it, before stepping back. _Was that it?_

After a few seconds, the door began to open on its own, only stopping when it was completely open.

"Juvia opened the door," I turned my attention to the rest of the group, who were still talking.

They stopped and looked at me, quickly becoming surprised by the fact that I had managed to open the door.

"How'd you do that?"

"Juvia drew a star on the door and wrote 'star' underneath it, then the door opened up," I answered.

"Why was that the solution?" Lisanna frowned.

"I'm bright but I'm not clever," I recited the messages. "I burn but I'm not a bonfire..."

"Oh I get it!" Levy was the first to figure it out. "The answer was to figure out what the text was referring to."

"Right."

"I wonder who left those hints for us," Lisanna wondered. "It couldn't have been that thing, could it?"

"No way," Gray said doubtfully. "Why would that monster help us?"

"Well whoever it was, I hope that they know that we're grateful for their help," Lisanna said optimistically.

"I have a strange feeling that they know," Erza spoke up after being silent for so long. "Anyways, let's go."

Natsu walked in front, illuminating up the cave with his fire. We followed after him, immediately stopping in the middle of the room.

"Is this bunny girl's area or whatever it's called?" Gajeel asked as he looked around.

The room that we had walked into was circular. The walls were painted to look like outer space with the stars glowing, providing a bit of light but not much. Star charts littered the floor in such quantity that they acted like a big carpet. Different stuffed plushes of celestial spirits(No, not the Knight kind.) were scattered around the room. There were all kinds of celestial gate keys hanging from the ceiling on thin golden chains, and a spiral staircase that had the steps shaped like stars led to a second floor.

"I doubt it," Natsu stated, his voice skeptical.

"Why's that?" Levy asked, turning to face him. "This place seems like the sort of thing Lu-chan would love."

"You're right, it does. But this place doesn't smell like her," the fire dragon slayer answered, his nose twitching. "It smells like someone else."

"Do you think that it could have taken another person?" Gray looked at Levy, his blue eyes questioning.

"It's not impossible..." Levy responded. "But I wonder who it is, if someone else is here."

"There's only one way to find out," I gestured to the stairs, assuming the person was up there. We were about to head for them when we were stopped by a voice.

"I'll be right back, I think I heard something downstairs. Don't go anywhere, alright?"

"Okay! Hurry back!"

Soon, a familiar face descended down the spiral staircase, looking down at the steps as they walked down and stopped at the base. Afterwards, the familiar face, AKA Dragon, looked up at us.

"So, you finally got here," his olive eyes glared at us. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Oh great...not you again," Natsu groaned, clearly not happy to encounter his doppelgänger again.

"How'd you even get here before us?" Lisanna asked, voicing what the rest of us were thinking. "We were ahead of you."

"People like me have our ways," he answered smugly. "Anyways...you may have gotten away from me last time, but Master says that I really, really can't let you stay here any longer."

He turned around suddenly right after saying that.

"This is my last chance too...Master may have forgiven me last time, but even Master's forgiveness has its-" he muttered to himself.

"Do you always do this when you're talking to people?" Gray asked.

"Great...you're wearing girly clothes and you talk to yourself while talking to other people," Natsu frowned. "All while looking like me."

Dragon quickly spun back around to face us.

"Dammit! Stop saying that my pajamas are girly! They aren't girly, they're _cool!_ " that comment seemed to upset him.

"They _are_ sort of girly," Lisanna agreed with Natsu.

"Shut up and go home already!" he ordered.

"We already told you," I spoke to him. "We aren't waking up unless our friends wake up with us."

"If you won't leave, then I'll...I'll..." he seemed like he was thinking. "I'll beat you up! Yeah! I'll beat you so bad that you'll wish that you'd never have come here!"

"You'll beat us up?" Gajeel clearly had doubts. "With what?"

"With this!" he held up his stuffed dragon. "Now you better start running, because here I come!"

Dragon ran at us with his stuffed dragon, but Natsu punched him in the face with his free hand causing him to be knocked back a bit.

"Ack!" he exclaimed as he held his most likely bruised face with his free hand.

"Come on...you know that you can't beat us," Natsu told him. "So why are you even trying?"

"Because Master told me to!" he moved his hand away and tried to attack again, only for the same result to happen. "Ack!"

"You aren't going to win," Lisanna tried to sway him. "Just move aside and no one will get hurt."

"No!"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Gray asked him. "Get outta the way already. This is a waste of time."

"No! Fuck you!"

"You sure are a stubborn one, aren't you?" Levy frowned at him.

"Listen, if you don't get out of the way right now then we're gonna either beat you up or tie you up," Gajeel told him, cracking his knuckles.. "It'll be easy, too."

"No it won't!"

"Yes it will, especially with a lackey like you," Gajeel responded confidently.

"A...what?" that seemed to get to him as he lowered his plush dragon.

"A lackey...you're a lackey to that thing, and you do whatever it tells you to do with no questions asked by the looks of it," Gajeel explained. "In other words, you're a servant...nothing more, nothing less..."

"I-I'm not that! I'm more than that!" he exclaimed. "I'm important!"

"You're Dragon, right?" Erza spoke up.

"Yeah, but I-"

"For someone with such a powerful name, you're really just a weak, stubborn lackey that can't even complete the orders given to you by your master," Erza insulted him, which caused us all to become both surprised and shocked. Harsh, Erza. Harsh.

"I-I'm...I'm..." he stuttered, looking to be on the verge of tears.

"Geez, Erza...did you really-?"

"I AM NOT A LACKEY!" he screamed in anger as his eyes changed color.

After that, he immediately turned and ran back upstairs, but we didn't follow him as we all looked at Erza.

"...What?" she asked when she noticed that we were staring at her.

"Did you really have to say that to him?" Lisanna asked. "He looked like he was gonna cry."

"It was the only way to get him to move without hurting him," Erza answered. "Would you rather him get hurt?"

"No, but you didn't have to go that far," Lisanna frowned.

"Yes, you could have just stopped when you called him a weak, stubborn lackey," I agreed. "It would of gotten the same result."

"I guess that you're right, but what's done is done," Erza told us. "There's no fixing it now, so let's go."

We turned our attention away from Erza as we began to head up the spiral staircase to the second floor one by one.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	10. Chapter 9: Celestial Obsession

**Natsu POV**

* * *

I was the last one up the stairs because the others said that they wouldn't be able to see where they were stepping if I went up first, and when I finally got up there, my fire lit up the room, letting us see what it looked like.

The walls were painted the same as they were downstairs, and there were two large rugs shaped like the symbol for Libra and Pisces on the floor. The Libra rug was dyed turquoise, while the Pisces rug was magenta. There were giant golden and silver keys up against the walls like pillars, and a big observatory telescope across the room with someone peering into it.

"Who's that?" I wondered, narrowing my eyes.

"I don't know," Lisanna frowned.

"Hm? Is somebody there?" the person asked. The voice sounded feminine, but hey, I'm not gonna assume genders.

They stopped looking through the telescope and turned to look at us with a happy smile on her face.

"Oh, hello there," she cheerfully greeted us. "Lovely night for stargazing, isn't it?"

"Isn't that...Yukino from Sabertooth?" Gray asked.

"It looks like her, but is she real?"

"She's real," Erza confirmed.

"How are you sure?"

"The other me said that there would be a victim here," she answered. "So this has to be the real Yukino."

Yukino was dressed in her pajamas, which consisted of a thin white tank top and pale blue pajama pants that had Sabertooth's emblem on them. She was also wearing a white scarf with a silver and gold colored key pattern on it.

"Did you all come here to look at the stars too?" she asked us with a jovial smile still placated on her face.

"No, we came to wake you up," Lisanna answered.

"Wake me up?" Yukino didn't appear to understand. "But I'm not asleep."

"Yes, you are...you're trapped here against your will by an ancient monster that's going to kill you if you don't wake up," Levy tried to tell her.

"Heh heh! Don't be silly!" she chuckled at our 'silliness'. "This isn't a dream and I'm not in danger. This is real life, everything is perfectly fine!"

"No, it isn't!" Levy tried again. "You have to wake up right now, Yukino!"

"Huh? Yukino?" the celestial wizard tilted her head in confusion as the smile disappeared from her face. "Who's that?"

"That's you...you're Yukino," I answered her question.

"Sorry, but I think that you have me confused for someone else," she apologized as she moved her head up from its tilt. "I'm not Yukino. I'm Star."

"No, you're Yukino," I corrected her. "And it isn't night, it's day."

"What are you talking about? I'm Star and it's night," she claimed. "Not only is it night right now, but it's going to be night minutes from now, hours from now, and even days from now!"

"But it has to be day sometimes," Juvia informed her. "It can't always be nighttime."

"Yes it can, because around here the night lasts forever," she beamed. "We can gaze at the stars forever and never have to hide our eyes from that big bright jerk called the sun; the moon's light is all that we need around here. Why are you trying to tell me that isn't real?"

"Because it's not!" Gajeel spluttered. "Go look outside if ya don't believe us! It's day right now!"

"You're beginning to get on my nerves," the celestial mage stopped smiling again. "Why are you trying to take away the beauty of night? What have I ever done to you?"

"Nothing, but-" Juvia was cut off.

"Exactly! Nothing! All I've ever done is stargaze and enjoy the night!" she frowned. "I want you all out of my observatory right now!"

"Wait a second!" Levy stopped her. "Can we at least say something before you throw us out?"

"I...I guess so," she said after a few seconds of thinking about it. "What do you want to say?"

"It can't always be night, Yukino!" Yukino looked like she was about to interrupt Levy. "Don't interrupt! You'll want to hear what I have to say!"

Yukino sighed and crossed her arms wordlessly, agreeing to not interrupt.

"It can't always be night, Yukino!" she repeated what she said. "That would only make people sad."

"What? Why would they be sad?" Yukino seemed surprised. "Night is the best time of day!"

"Because night is that one time of the day where everything is peaceful," Levy began to explain things to her. "People go to sleep, they relax after a long day of work, nocturnal creatures are able to go outside, and all sorts of other things."

"Shrimp, you aren't helping," Gajeel frowned at her.

"Just let me handle this...but day is also great because people wake up to feel the warmth of the sun shining in through their window, they can find their way around easily, look at the clouds, watch the sunset, and all sorts of things," Levy continued explaining.

"But day is nowhere near as beautiful as night," Yukino claimed.

"That may be true, but if it was always night, then plants wouldn't grow, flowers wouldn't blossom, animals that hunt in the day wouldn't be able to hunt because it would be too dark, humans wouldn't get enough vitamin D, and other bad things would happen too," Levy went on.

"You're...you're lying..." she didn't want to believe it. "That wouldn't happen."

"Yes, it would...daytime is just as important as nighttime, so there has to be balance otherwise bad things would happen," Levy stated. "Bad things would happen if it was always day or if it was always night."

Yukino was silent as she looked down at the floor, and Levy went over to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"So you see? It can't always be night, but it can't always be day, either," Levy finished.

"I-I see that now..." Yukino was frowning as she looked at Levy. "How do I fix it, though?"

"There's nothing that needs to be fixed...it's day outside of this place right now," Levy answered.

"It is? But when I looked through my telescope, it was always night," Yukino replied.

"That's because you're looking at outer space and out there, it's always dark," Levy explained.

"Oh..."

"We can bring you out to see it if you want, Yukino," Lisanna offered.

"My name isn't Star, is it?" she ignored Lisanna's offer.

"Yeah, it's not Star," I confirmed. "It's Yukino. Yukino Agria."

"That sounds right..." she was silent for a few seconds after that. "Yes...I'm not Star, I'm Yukino. But if that's true, then the thing about this being a dream is also true."

"Right, and you have to wake up before that monster kills you," Levy took her hand off of Yukino's shoulder.

"But I don't know how to wake up," she told us.

"Maybe you just need to see the sun?" I guessed.

"Maybe..."

"Then let's go."

Yukino began to walk across the room with Levy towards us, but just before we were about to go back down the spiral staircase-

"Little sister? Where are you going?"

We all looked back at the telescope only to see that Angel was standing in front of it and looking at us.

 _Isn't that Angel chick part of the Oracion Seis? Wait, no, she joined Crime Sorciere didn't she? Yeah, I remember now. But what's she doing here?_ I thought.

"Where the heck did she come from?" I didn't understand.

"Why are you asking us?" Gray looked at me in confusion. "We don't know either, man."

"Are you leaving me, Yukino? Why?" she asked sadly. "After all the fun that we've had together?"

"Because this isn't real, this is a dream," Yukino answered firmly. "And Yukino isn't just some nickname, it's my real name."

"But why would you leave when this place is so much better than the real world?" Angel didn't understand. "Here, it can be night all the time and you can look at the stars as much as you'd like."

"It can't be night all the time, Sorano...Levy explained to me that it can't," Yukino told her.

 _Oh yeah! Her real name is Sorano, I totally forgot about that._ I thought to myself.

"Here it can though! This place is a paradise for you, remember?" Sorano reminded her. "Why would you want to go back to that horrible world of stress and disappointment?"

"Because I can't stay here," Yukino answered her.

"Yes, you can! You can stay here forever with me and all of the spirits in those keys downstairs!" she claimed, before coming closer and extending her hand to her. "Just take my hand and you never have to leave."

Yukino was quiet as she looked away from her sister.

"Yukino...come on..." Sorano took another step forward.

I got in front of Yukino, which made Sorano halt and lower her hand back to her side.

"Get out of my way," she commanded in a low voice.

"She doesn't wanna be here with you anymore," I didn't budge. "Let her go."

"I said, **_get out of my way!_** "

Sorano's body changed after she said that. Her teeth became sharp, the upper half of her face, her waist, her lower right leg, and her left foot became shrouded in shadows.

"It's the creature!"

Gray, Gajeel and Erza moved to stand beside me, ready to fight if it tried to attack.

"Yukino, stay back," Gray commanded, his eyes fierce and expression determined. "You too, Juvia."

"Shrimp, you stay back too," Gajeel commanded. "Same goes for you, Lisanna."

"What did you do with Wendy and the others?!" I asked, glaring at it. "Where are they?!"

"They're all taking naps right now, and I was about to take a nap too when Dragon showed up crying," it told us. "After I got him to calm down, he told me what was happening so I came here just in time to see you taking my Yukino away from me."

"Let Yukino wake up and take us to the others right now!" Erza ordered.

"You're bossy, you make people cry, and you killed Knight? It's no wonder that they choose me over you all," it frowned at us. "You're obviously absolute horrible people that no one could ever truly love!"

"WHAT?!"

"I may have lost Yukino to you wretched people, but believe me when I say this...I swear on my life that I won't let you take any of the others from me," it said in a promising tone. "And if I do, then let me be struck by the very person that you take."

After saying that, it disappeared, and the area we were in began to shake violently.

"Is this an earthquake?!"

"This place must be collapsing!" Gray yelled. "We have to get out of here!"

We sprinted down the spiral staircase as fast as we possibly could and ran out the door. I quickly noticed that Yukino wasn't with us and looked back to see her still in there, looking at the keys hanging from the ceiling.

I ran back and grabbed her hand.

"Yukino! We can't stay here!" I shouted over the noise. "Come on!"

I ran out of there with her hand held tightly in mine. The cave was coming down on top of us when we saw the exit.

"Brace yourself!"

I threw Yukino out of the cave and then dove for the exit, just barely making it out.

 _That was close._

"What took you guys so long?" Lisanna asked, looking at me with a worried expression on her face. It made me feel kinda guilty. "If you were in there any longer, then you would of been crushed to death!"

"Yukino stopped and I had to go back for her," I explained.

"Are you serious?" Gray asked, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Why would I lie about that?"

"Yukino, why on Earthland would you..." Juvia trailed off when she looked at Yukino. The celestial wizard was staring at the collapsed entrance to the cave with a remorseful look on her face. Her eyes were full of sorrow as she stared at what used to be the door.

"Are you okay, Yukino?"

"All of those keys, the spirits inside of them..." Yukino didn't address the question. "They're all gone...broken by the boulders..."

"But they weren't real, Yukino," Juvia reminded her.

"I know that they weren't real but..." she trailed off, shaking her head slowly. "Listen...can you guys go on without me?"

"And leave you here when that thing could show up at any time?" I asked incredulously. "No way in hell we're doing that!"

"I promise that I'll be fine, I'll come and find you guys once I'm done here," she assured us.

"You sure that you're gonna be alright on your own?" Gajeel asked her, doubt seeping into his voice.

"Of course I'm sure, now go...please..."

Very reluctantly, we left Yukino there to grieve over her broken keys.

* * *

 **Nobody POV**

* * *

Once they were gone, a small plush that looked just like Yukino minus the scraf appeared in the grass, but she didn't seem to notice it.

It laid on the ground for a few seconds, before the white dove that had taken Knight's plush away earlier swooped in, picked up the plush, and flew away with it held in its talons.

Yukino didn't even blink.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	11. Chapter 10: A Fairy's Shop

**Nobody POV**

* * *

After leaving Yukino alone at the now collapsed entrance to the cave, they continued on their walk through Wendy's personal paradise.

"Do you guys really think she'll be okay on her own?"

"She said that she would be fine, and besides, there wasn't much that we could do," Lisanna answered. "It didn't seem like she was going to budge no matter what we did."

"That thing probably thinks that she's with us right now, too," Gray pointed out. "So if it's gonna come looking for her then the cave is probably the last place that it would look."

"Juvia hopes you're right," the water wielder mused.

They continued their walk until the ground started to crumble underneath Lisanna's feet.

" _Eep!_ "

"Lisanna!" Natsu acted rapidly and grabbed her, preventing her from falling into the abyss below.

"Th-thanks, Natsu," she stuttered. And was that a blush in her cheeks?

"The ground around here must be unstable," Levy predicted.

"So...we're basically in some kind of minefield?"

"Pretty much."

"How are we gonna make it through?" Lisanna asked.

"We have to either plan our movements carefully, or send someone ahead until they reach stable ground, which is when we'll follow in their footsteps," Levy gave two options.

"The latter sounds like a good idea," Erza decided after consideration. "Who's going to be the one to go across, though?"

"I'll do it," Natsu volunteered.

"Are you sure about this, Natsu?" Lisanna asked, being worried for his safety.

"Sure I am. Besides, the floor would cave immediately if Erza went through, considering how much weight she's gained."

"What was that, Natsu?" Erza growled darkly.

"N-nothing!"

Without waiting for a response, Natsu started to walk ahead. He was careful where he treaded as he tried to find a safe path through the unsound area.

"Hey, Erza," Gray said, looking at her.

"What, Gray?" she asked, turning her attention onto the devil slayer.

"You've been really quiet lately," he spoke to her. "Is everything alright?"

"I already told you, I don't want to talk about it," she repeated herself.

"From what I've heard, it helps to talk about things. And I think that you need to talk about something," he pressed on. "After all...what did that demon mean when it said we ki-?"

Gray didn't get to finish his sentence as Erza quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, her eyes grim.

"I said that I don't want to talk about it, and so I'm not going to talk about it," Titania repeated in a stern tone. "Understood?"

"Yehf."

"I'm going to take that as a yes, so good," she removed her hand from his mouth.

The two of them went back to spectating Natsu as he tried to find a way across the floor.

"Whoa!"

The ground underneath Natsu's feet suddenly gave way as he vanished from sight.

"NATSU!"

Lisanna quickly ran over to the hole, following in his footsteps so she wouldn't fall as well.

"Lisanna! Be careful!"

The others followed after her, but walked instead of running, as even though they were worried about him they knew that they risked falling in a hole if they went too fast.

"Natsu! Can you hear me?!" Lisanna shouted down the hole.

There was no response.

"Say something, Natsu!" Erza called down into the darkness.

"Something!" his voice answered back.

Hearing Natsu's voice made Lisanna let out a sigh of relief.

"What took you so long to say something, idiot?" Gray yelled down to him.

"I didn't hear anything!"

"You seriously didn't hear Lisanna ask if you could hear her?" Gajeel shouted down to him.

"Nope! But jump down!"

"Jump down? Are you crazy Salamander?!" Gajeel exclaimed. "We'll be trapped down there just like you!"

"No you won't! Trust me!" he yelled back. "It's another cave!"

"And that's a good enough reason for us to jump down?"

"It is a good reason because I can smell somebody down here!"

"Really? Who does it smell like?" Juvia called down to him.

"I don't know! It's really faint, but it is definitely familiar!" Natsu shouted back. "Now jump down already! It's not even that far of a fall!"

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of whether or not to jump down.

"Alright! We're coming down!" Erza decided. "Get away from the hole!"

"Aye ma'am!"

They gave Natsu a second to move away from the hole before jumping down themselves. Levy was the last to jump down, but she stopped herself upon noticing that she had dropped some of her papers on the way over.

"Shrimp? What's taking you so long?!" Gajeel yelled up to her.

"I dropped some of my papers, just go on without me!" she called down to them. "I'll catch up with you guys once I've gotten all of them back!"

"Fine, but be careful!"

"I will!"

Levy slowly made her way over the unstable ground, picking up the papers that she dropped.

"Huh?" she heard a muted rumbling noise that caused her to halt. "What was that?"

Almost immediately, the ground underneath Levy's feet swallowed her up and she fell into obscurity.

* * *

 **Lisanna POV**

* * *

Natsu was lighting up the cave with his flames just like he had done earlier, so he was the one leading the way. But it wasn't just because he was the one with the light; it was also because he could smell whoever was down here.

"Is the scent getting any stronger, Natsu?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but slowly," he answered. "It's like it's going at a snail's pace."

"So if we run, then shouldn't we get closer to the smell?"

"Even if that's right, we aren't going to run," Erza stated firmly.

"Why not?" Natsu looked over his shoulder at her.

"Because we have absolutely no clue what's down here and the last thing that we need is for you to fall down another hole and get trapped," she explained. "So no running."

"Fine."

We kept walking through the cave, eventually finding an ending to the tunnel of inky darkness. There was a gentle breeze, which felt a lot cooler now than before.

 _What's going on?_ I thought to myself. _The breeze wasn't this cold before...or was it?_

"Hey guys...was the wind always this cold, or is it just me?" I asked.

"No, it's certainly gotten chillier," Juvia answered with a frown. "Does anyone have any ideas why?"

"No clue," Gajeel responded with a shrug.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Gray spoke up. "I don't feel anything."

"That's because you're an ice mage, Gray," I chided him. "You're used to the cold."

"Oh yeah," he frowned. "How the hell did I forget that?!"

"I don't know," I answered. "Also, your shirt is gone."

"DAMN IT!"

We got to the exit of the cave, discovering marble stairs leading up to a very regal looking palace. The building had so many windows, you could say that the palace was made more of glass than wood.

"The scent is coming from there," Natsu pointed to the palace after taking a few sniffs of the air around him.

"Can you tell who's smell it is yet?"

"No," he answered begrudgingly. "But I'm sure that it belongs to someone we know."

"You just can't put your finger on it, huh?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"Then we shouldn't waste time," said Erza. "Let's go in there and find out who it belongs to."

We began climbing the steps up to the palace of wood and glass.

"Do you think that it could be Wendy?" Juvia asked, her tone hopeful.

"I sure hope so," I said with a sigh.

We got to the top of the steps, pushed open the heavy double doors, and went inside of the palace with the doors hurling shut behind us as soon as we were inside.

"What the hell?" Gajeel proclaimed. "Why'd the damn doors close?!"

Erza went over to the doors and tried to open them, only to find that they were tightly locked.

"The creature must have locked the doors behind us," she stated.

"It's here?"

"If Wendy is here, then of course it's going to be around here," I answered.

"We better get moving then, before it tries to bring this place down on top of us," said Gray.

"I don't think that it'll do that if Wendy really is in this place," I doubted. "But we should get moving either way."

We began to walk through the halls of the palace, checking every room that we passed by. But each of the rooms were empty, at least in terms of people in them.

That is, until we came across a quaint room that was styled to look like a shop. And inside was a petite fairy sitting on a counter by a book. They had a bored look on their face as they flipped through the pages.

"I don't get why I have to take care of this shop," they sighed. "No one ever comes here."

We couldn't help but stare at it for a bit because we were shocked to see an actual fairy, even if this was just a dream.

"Excuse us."

"Huh?" they looked up from their book and their face immediately turned to surprise at seeing us. "Oh! Hello there!"

The fairy abandoned its book to hover in the air behind the counter.

"I guess you can say that I'm more than surprised to see someone in this shop!" they were smiling, seeming genial now. "Is there something that you need?"

"Are you that thing?" Gajeel asked suspiciously.

"Am I what thing? Do you mean Master?"

"If that's what you call the creature, then yes," the iron dragon slayer confirmed.

"Oh no! I'm not Master!" they chuckled. "That's a rather silly assumption! Do we really look alike, though?"

"No, it's just that monster looks like it has the power to shape-shift into whoever it wants," I answered.

"But if you aren't the creature, then who are you?" Juvia asked. "And what is this place?"

"Well, people to seem to like to call me Reader-san, so I guess that's my name. And this is the shop that Master put me in charge of," they answered. "Do you need anything?"

"No, we don't have any-"

"You don't need any money," they interrupted, "Master says that the first item is always free, so pick from what you want. But don't go behind the counter, this a shopkeeper's only area."

"I'll take that satchel," Gajeel said immediately. He was pointing to a satchel that had creamy brown leather and a long strap, with a burnished golden buckle holding the flap closed.

"Huh? You mean this one?" they got a nod in response. "Alright!"

Reader-san fluttered over to the bag hanging from one of the many hooks on the wall, taking it off the hook and handing it over to Gajeel.

"Why do you want a bag?"

"It's not for me, it's for Levy," he replied. "This way, she won't keep dropping her papers."

"Gajeel loves Levy, Gajeel loves Levy, Gajeel loves Levy~!" Natsu teased, a jubilant grin on his face.

"Shut up!" Gajeel was blushing slightly at the accusation, which I couldn't help but smile at.

"Is there anything else that you need?" Reader-san asked, chuckling a bit at Natsu's battering of Gajeel.

"Yes...do you know where we can find Wendy?" Gray asked her, before moving his hand. "She's about this tall, has long, blue hair, and she's probably with the mon- er, your master."

"Hmmm...well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if she's not in the palace then she's probably on the roof," they relayed to us. "She seems to spend a lot of her time up there."

"How do we get to the roof?"

"There's an entrance on the second floor that will take you there, and the stairs leading there are a little way down the hall," Reader-san answered. "But be careful, Metal is on the second floor and I don't know if he's left yet."

"Meta-? You know what? I don't care," Gajeel stated, putting the satchel on. "Thanks, fairy thing."

"No problem! Stop by again if you need anything!" they waved goodbye. "And good luck!"

We left the shop and began heading for the second floor.

* * *

 **Reader-san POV**

* * *

It was a few seconds after they had left and I went back to the book I has been reading.

"Ah...it feels good to have served a customer," I gleefully sighed at the nice feeling it left me with. "Along with helped one."

I sat there for a bit just flipping through the pages that were huge to me, until someone flicked me on the back of my head.

"OW!"

I rubbed the back of my head as I turned around to see who did it, only to see Master standing there with a displeased look on their face.

"Master! What was that for?!"

"You know what you did," Master growled at me. "You told them where Wendy is."

"How do you know that?"

"These walls are thin as paper, it wasn't hard for me to hear you," Master snapped. "The hard part was leaving Wendy unattended when those horrible people are here and know where she is."

"Then shouldn't you be with her right now?" I asked, somewhat confused. "And shouldn't you have gotten her out of here when you heard me talking to them?"

"First, I would be if I didn't have to punish you, and second..." Master trailed off, before appearing annoyed. "Dammit!"

"Pu-punishment? Master! _Please!_ " I couldn't stop myself from paling in fear of my dismal predicament. "Have mercy!"

"No! You deserve to be punished for what you've done!" Master refused. "Now...what's a fitting punishment for you?"

I could only stare at Master as they tried to conjure a punishment for me.

"Ah-ha! I've got it!"

"Reader-san, you are hereby forbidden from eating any other foods besides your least favorite ones, alongside the grossest ones you can think of!"

"But, but-"

"No buts!" Master interrupted. "Now go home and tell your family what you've done."

"Okay..."

Master disappeared after that, and I assumed that they had gone back to the roof.

I then placed a closed sign on the counter before fluttering away back to my home to tell my family about what I had done, just like how Master had told me.

* * *

 **I didn't say what Reader-san looked like or what gender they were because it's supposed to be you, aka the person that's reading this story right now...anyways.**

 **Review plz?**


	12. Chapter 11: Keeper of the Sky

**Gajeel POV**

* * *

We headed up the second floor and began searching for the entrance to the roof where Wendy was supposed to be.

"All of these doors look the same," I grumbled after a while. "How are we supposed to get to the roof if we keep looking in the same rooms over and over again?"

"We don't give up," Natsu answered, "simple as that."

"Who said anything about giving up, Salamander?" I frowned. "Because I sure as hell didn't."

"Well, it sounded like you were," he responded.

"Juvia has to agree with Natsu," Juvia spoke up. "It did sound like you were planning on giving up."

"Well, I'm not," I huffed. "I'm just frustrated that we keep looking into the same damn rooms over and over again."

"I think that we're all a little frustrated," Lisanna said, trying to calm me down. "But like Natsu said, we can't give up."

We all kept walking until we came to double wooden doors that we were pretty sure led to the roof. We tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge.

"Come on!" Natsu sounded annoyed as he tried to kick the doors open, but it was futile. "Open uuuup!"

"Natsu, stop kicking the door!" Lisanna beseeched. "That's not going to do anything."

"Then how are we gonna get to Wendy?" Natsu ceased his attempts and looked at her.

"There has to be another way to open the door," Lisanna answered. "The door in the cave wouldn't open until Juvia did what she did, so we must have to solve a riddle."

"How are we supposed to get the door open when we don't even know what we're supposed to solve?" Natsu huffed, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," she answered. "We'll have to figure it out."

They began to look around the area for anything that could help us know what we were supposed to solve to get the door open, but while they were all looking around, I felt the sudden urge to cough.

"Ahem," is what it sounded like.

Almost immediately after that, words began to appear on the metal door frame.

"What the..." I rose an eyebrow when I noticed it.

"What's wrong, Gajeel?" Gray asked, looking at me.

"See for yourself, stripper," I said, not looking away from the words materializing on the door frame.

Everyone stopped looking around the room and came over to me, peering at the door.

"'I am far away but you can see me almost anywhere? I cover myself with fluffy things sometimes? And I will always be there no matter what? So what am I?'" Natsu read. "What the heck does that mean?"

"It's a riddle," Erza answered plainly. "If we solve it, then the door will most likely open."

"Well, this palace is Wendy's area, so the answer to the riddle must be something that's assosciated with her, right?"

"I doubt it...there's no way that thing is stupid enough to make the answer to the riddle be Carla or dragon or even sky, right?" I seriously doubted that.

As soon as I said sky, the word appeared on the wood and the doors began to open on their own.

"I stand corrected..." I frowned. "Apparently it is that stupid..."

"Look on the bright side, if it is that stupid then if there's any other riddles then they should be pretty easy to solve," Lisanna said optimistically.

"Which is good," Natsu pointed out the obvious. "Anyways, let's go."

We were about to walk through the door and head up to the roof, when metal pillars shot out of the floor and barred the entrance.

"Hey! What gives?" Natsu looked at me accusingly.

"Don't look at me," I exclaimed. "I didn't do that!"

"Oh really? Then who did?"

"I did..."

We turned around to see who had said that, and saw another me standing there. He was dressed in a gray tank top with metal pattern all over it, and dark gray sweatpants.

I was about to sigh in relief that he wasn't wearing anything embarrassing like how Dragon was, until I noticed that he had on slippers that resembled Pantherlily.

"Oh come on...really?" I groaned. "Do you have to wear slippers?"

"Shut up and get away from there before I'm forced to do something I won't regret," he ordered, his expression not changing in the slightest.

"And what are you gonna do?" Gray asked, looking skeptical.

"Simple...those ones in the doorway weren't meant to block your path," he answered.

"You mean...?"

"Yeah, and if you don't get the hell away from there right now then the next ones won't miss," he grumbled. "I'm only gonna tell you this once, got it?"

"Oh we get it," I responded, cracking my knuckles eagerly. "But we ain't leaving."

"Then don't say I didn't warn you," he growled in irritation.

He was about to attack us when I quickly ran over to him and punched him in the face.

"Argh! Why you-" that pissed him off. "I'll teach you to mess with Metal!"

Now identified Metal swung at me, but I dodged it and dropped the satchel on the ground so I could use both my hands.

"Gi-hee...leave him to me, you guys," I told the others, keeping my eyes trained on my double. "I'll take care of this idiot here."

I didn't wait for a response as I got into a brawl with Metal, but the others listened to me and kept out of it. I felt kinda grateful for that, even if I wouldn't say so out loud.

I fought with Metal for quite a while; he was fairly tough, but he was me after all so that was expected.

"Grah!" he exclaimed as I landed a hard punch to his gut, which knocked him back and caused him to collide with a wall, ruining it.

"Are we done or what?" I asked, ready to keep going.

"F-fuck you!"

"Yeah, we're done," I said decidedly.

"Bullshit! I can- I can still- I can still fight you, bastard!"

"Do you even hear yourself?" I asked him. "There's no way that you can keep fighting!"

"Says you!" he was stubborn as he pushed off the wall and began to trudge over to me.

I sighed and walked toward him, roughly poking him in the forehead. This caused him to fall backwards onto his rear.

"If you could keep fighting me," I crouched down in front of him, "do you really think I could push you over with a poke of all things?"

He growled at me, and glaring into my eyes.

"Listen here, I beat you fair and square," I frowned at him. "So let us go to the roof."

He didn't do anything, and a few seconds of silence passed between us.

"Now," I commanded, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Ugh...fine," he growled, before dispersing the metal pillars blocking the doors. "Let Master deal with the lot of you."

I stood up and went back over to the others who were waiting for me, picking up the satchel on the way over.

"Are you alright, Gajeel?" Juvia asked. "You aren't hurt too badly anywhere, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...worry about yourself, Juv," I answered. "Now let's go get Wendy."

We went through the door and headed up to the roof, leaving Metal by his lonesome.

The roof of the building was flat, making it like another floor to the palace except without walls or an actual rooftop; there were no railings either, which would make it very easy to fall off if you took a wrong step in the wrong place.

"Where is she?" Natsu demanded, his head whipping around. There was no sign of Wendy anywhere.

We began to hear giggles from above us, seeing that none other than Wendy was in the sky. She was on a cloud, lying around and holding the hand of another Natsu that I was pretty sure was that monster.

"Wheeee!" Wendy had a scarf tied around her neck, similar to the one that Yukino had been wearing. Except this one was light blue had a white cloud pattern.

"Wen-!" Natsu tried to call out to her only for Erza to cover his mouth. "Weh? Erwa! Weh teh heh?"

"Shh...let's wait for them to land..." she whispered. "If they can fly then that thing is just going to fly away with her once it sees us."

Natsu grumbled a bit but agreed, and we watched them soar around in the air above the roof. We waited for them to land and hoped that it wouldn't notice us.

"You see? I told you that this would be fun!" it was smiling at her.

"You're right, it is! I never knew that I could fly without my magic, or even without Carla!" she was smiling as well.

"Anything is possible when I'm around, Wendy!"

They continued flying for a few seconds before they landed on the roof.

"You know, Natsu...I really have to thank you," Wendy said bashfully.

"Hm? Thank me?" it tilted its head. "Thank me for what?"

"For showing me such a great time today!" she answered, beaming at it with an adorable smile. "I haven't had this much fun in a really long time, and it's all thanks to you!"

Wendy hugged it with her face buried in its chest and it stiffened up like it wasn't expecting to be hugged. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Natsu was trying to stop himself from rushing in there.

"So thank you so much!" she thanked it, causing it to relax.

It smiled and happily shut its eyes as it hugged her back.

"It's no problem, sweetheart..."

 _It...called her a sweetheart...that's kinda creepy..._

That was enough to push Natsu over the edge as he tore Erza's hand from his mouth.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF HER!"

Natsu bolted towards them with his fists engulfed in flames.

"Hey, wait!" Gray tried to stop his rival, but it was too late.

Natsu threw a punch aimed for its face, but the monster quickly opened its eyes and punched Natsu in the head with its hand, causing the fire wizard to get knocked back towards us.

"Let her go!" Natsu wasn't phased by the hit as he popped back up. "Right now!"

"H-huh? Two Natsu's?" Wendy looked perplexed as the demon tightened its grip on her. "What's going on? How are there two of you?"

"There's only one Natsu, Wendy, and it's me," it lied to her. "That's an imposter and so are the others behind him...they're just monsters that want nothing more than to hurt you."

"Bullshit!" Natsu yelled. "You're the monster!"

"See how it lies, Wendy?" it was trying to conceal a mischievous smirk. "How am I the monster here when I've been so very nice to you?"

"Being nice doesn't mean anything if you're just gonna kill her in the end!" Natsu was glaring at it fiercely.

"Natsu's right!" Lisanna tried to tell her. "You have to run away and wake up, Wendy!"

"Wake up? But there's no was this is a dream," it lied. "This place is just as real as me and you."

"Bullshit!" Natsu repeated. "Wendy! Please, you have to listen to us!"

Wendy was silent for a few seconds before looking up at the thing holding her.

"Can you let me go, Natsu?" she asked. "I want to talk to them."

"...Of course," the answer sounded forced.

The demon let her out of its hug and Wendy walked forwards a couple of steps. She looked at us with a calm smile on her face.

"Now why do you want me to wake up?" she asked. "Don't you know that this isn't a dream?"

"Yes, it is," Erza told her. "This is just one big dream and you're in danger here."

"Yeah, if you don't wake up then that monster behind you is going to kill you," Gray tried to tell her.

"A monster?" she quickly looked behind her. The creature to wave at her, and Wendy waved back before turning to us. "There's no monster behind me. The only person behind me is Natsu."

" _That_ is the monster," I pointed at the demon and then to Natsu after saying that. " _This_ is the real Natsu."

"Hmmm..." she stared at him scrutinizingly. "Well, he does look a lot like Natsu, but the so-called 'monster' behind me is the real one."

"No, he isn't! I'm the real Natsu!" Natsu took a few steps towards Wendy as the monster moved to stand directly behind her. "You have to believe us, Wendy!"

"If you are telling the truth then what are things that I like to do?" she asked. "Only the real Natsu would know that, right? So what do I like to do?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Seriously, Natsu?" Gray frowned at him.

"Sh-shut up!" he was embarrassed.

"You really don't know?" Wendy frowned.

" _I_ know what you like to do, Wendy," the creature smiled smugly as it put a hand on her shoulder.

"And I know that you do, so if that's the case then that means they're monsters just like you said that they were?"

"Uh-huh," it nodded.

"I'm not the monster and no one here is the monster except him!" Natsu growled in frustration, walking closer to her. "Please, Wendy! Don't you-?"

Natsu halted as the demon stepped out from behind Wendy and got in front of her instead.

"I think that we've both had quite enough of you _monsters_ ," it was smirking.

"Get out of my way!" Natsu snarled, clearly enraged.

"Shall I get rid of them, Wendy?" it ignored him.

"No."

That shocked the demon as it looked over its shoulder at her.

"Huh? N-no?" it seemed shocked. "But...but they're monsters! Shouldn't we get rid of them before they hurt someone?"

"Yes, we should, but there's not a lot of people in this place and especially not a lot of people in the palace," she explained. "So seeing as we can both take care of ourselves very well, then they can't hurt us one bit. And we shouldn't hurt them, either."

"But, but, but-"

"No buts...we aren't hurting them and that's final," the sky maiden declared. "Now, can you please move out of the way?"

It didn't move as it tried to process her decision to not hurt the mages, so instead Wendy step-sided it and headed towards Natsu.

"It's nice to meet you, Mister Monster. And it's nice to meet your monster friends as well," she extended her hand to him.

"Not a monster, but eh...good enough, I guess..." Salamander shrugged.

Natsu took her hand in his and Wendy was about to shake it when Natsu pulled her in for a hug. This caused her bright blue eyes to widen in surprise.

"Na-Natsu?"

It seemed as if her memories had come flooding back to her, as I could see realization in her expression.

"Woohoo, it worked!"

"How did you know that would work?" Juvia asked Natsu curiously.

"I didn't," he admitted. "I just wanted to hug her."

"Wendy, you have to come back over here before it's too late!" the creature tried to cajole her. "They're going to hurt you!"

Wendy just stared at it in silence.

"Wendy? Why are you looking at me like that?" it seemed to be uncomfortable under her unwavering stare.

"You're...you're the real monster here, aren't you?" Wendy asked, her eyes sad.

"Me? A monster? That's a silly thing to say when I'm Natsu Dragneel — someone who would never hurt you in a million years!"

"No, this is the real Natsu...the one that's hugging me right now," Wendy answered. "So that makes you the monster. And does that also mean you're going to kill me?"

"What?! No! I-I wouldn't dream of hurting you!"

"Yeah right..." Natsu snorted.

"You stay out of this!" it barked at the fire mage, anger in its voice. "This conversation is between me and Wendy!"

Its eyes converted to a deep turquoise and parts of its body to become shadowed, which were the lower of half of its face, right calf, left knee and the space between its right elbow and its right shoulder. I frowned, noting how similar the black stuff looked to ice cube's demon slayer markings, but brushed it off as nothing.

"Wendy! Come to me, please!" it pleaded, its voice desperate and mildly disoriented. It was disturbing to see the monster look like a warped Natsu, and speaking it his voice, too. Nightmare fuel.

"I can't," Wendy shook her head.

"Ugh...first Yukino, now Wendy?" it growled. "Stop taking my friends away from me!"

"We're not going to stop until everyone is free from you," Erza stated firmly.

"Then I'll see to it that you won't free anyone else. And maybe I'll give you a taste of your own medicine," it frowned. "I'm sorry about this, Wendy, but I have no choice."

"What are you doing?"

"I had Dragon go around and lock all of the doors, along with seal the windows shut...he's a fast and quiet worker, so I'll have to remember to reward him for the excellent job later," it told us. "But right now, it's time to get rid of you pests."

There was a terrible rumble from deep in the belly of the earth that struck fear into everyone there. Then, the earth began to shake violently, throwing some of us off balance.

"You could have avoided this if you came to me like I asked you to, Wendy...I didn't want to do this to you as well," it frowned sadly. "But seeing as you're so adamant on staying with them, there's nothing I can do."

It waved at us after saying that.

"I'm sorry, I really am...I'll never forget you for as long as I live," it said as it waved at us. "Goodbye."

It disappeared after that, leaving us in the collapsing palace. Cracks appeared from the ground beneath, and I had to grab Juvia to keep her from falling into one.

"We have to get out of here!"

"Yeah, no shit!" I sarcastically replied.

"But how are we gonna get out? You heard what that thing said!"

"I don't know!" Gray exclaimed. "If we jump from this high up then we're as good as dead!"

"We're just gonna have to search for a way out!" said Erza. "Now let's go!"

Natsu let Wendy out of his hug and instead held her hand as we ran down into the second floor of the palace, hoping that we would find a way out of here before it turned to ruble.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	13. Chapter 12: Rusted Metal

**Wendy POV**

* * *

As soon as we had made it down the stairs, we saw Metal standing there. He was limping, the gait that was smooth only this morning now faltering and uneven. His dark hair was ragged, loose strands falling over his features that contorted with effort. On his feet were only tattered remains of his slippers. His eyes were dark and sullen, the left one concealed behind swelling.

"Metal!" I cried out in worry. "What happened?!"

"Dragon paid me a little 'visit' after he was done with his orders. He said that I wasn't supposed to let you all up there, even if I did lose the fight. So he punished me," he explained, his voice gruff.

"Seriously? You got your ass kicked by him of all people?" Gajeel asked him incredulously.

"You try standing up against that stuffed dragon of his!" Metal exclaimed. "That thing is like a freaking rock!"

"I know right?" Gray agreed with him. "What the heck does he keep in that thing?"

"No clue, but it's probably the same thing that Knight keeps in that sword plush of hers," he answered.

The mention of Knight caused Erza to look sad, which I noticed out of the corner of my eye.

"But listen, I know about a secret passage that can take us out of here," he told us. "I built it in case of an emergency and I'm pretty sure that Dragon doesn't know about it."

"How do we know that you aren't trying to trick us?" Natsu asked, suspicious of him.

"Because one, why would I be trying to trick you in a situation like this?" Metal asked. "And two, I don't think that you have any other choice then to believe me right now."

"He's right, and besides, we can trust him," I reassured them. "Metal kept an eye on me whenever that thing wasn't here, after all."

I took my hand out of Natsu's and went over to Metal.

"But first, let me heal you," I tried to heal him but he smacked my hands away.

"There's no time for that, Sora!" he used his nickname for me. "Every second wasted is another second closer to this place collapsing on top of us all!"

He turned his attention to the others.

"Now come on, follow me!"

Metal led us through the halls of the palace, limping every few steps due to his injuries. He brought us to Reader-san's shop where he began to push the counter aside.

"Where's Reader-san?" Juvia looked around the room, but didn't see the small fairy.

"I don't know but knowing them, they probably went home," Metal responded.

He moved the counter out of the way, revealing a trapdoor in the floor which he opened. There was a tunnel underneath, its path unknown.

"Through here...this tunnel will take you outside the castle grounds," he told us.

One by one, everyone jumped down the hole in the floor until only I was left.

"What's taking you so long? Go already!" he commanded.

"Aren't you coming with us?" I asked timidly.

"I can't, it's too late for me," he answered solemnly. "Even if you heal me, I'm still doomed."

"But-"

"Just go!"

I bit my lip and looked between him and the hole a couple of times, trying to decide whether to jump or stay and heal him.

"Wendy Marvell! Go! NOW!" he commanded, using my full name.

Metal pushed me into the hole and I fell down into the tunnel where the others were waiting for me.

"What took you so long, Wendy?" Natsu asked, helping me up off of the ground. "What were you doing up there?"

"I was talking to Metal, he said that he isn't coming with us because he's doomed," I answered, my lip quivering.

"I'm not surprised that he isn't, with injuries like that," Gray said with a frown. "Now come on, let's get moving."

We all ran as fast as we possibly could through the tunnel, and by the time that we had gotten out, the palace was collapsing and the tunnel collapsed seconds later.

 _Metal..._

Lisanna noticed my expression and put a comforting hand on my shoulder, which made me feel slightly better. We all stayed there, staring at the rubble of the tunnel along with the remains of the castle.

"So you actually made it out, huh?"

We turned around to see none other than the monster standing a few feet behind us. It was still disguised as Natsu, except with vivid turquoise eyes and sharp teeth.

"I can't say that I'm surprised, because I should have expected something like this from Metal," it had a stoic look on its face. "Always going on and on about how I needed to put secret exits and secret entrances whenever I made a new area."

"How do you know that it was Metal?" Erza questioned. "And how did you know that we were here?"

"Oh, I never left...I just turned invisible and followed you around, that way I could make sure if you were dead or not," it answered. "I'm going to have to punish Dragon though, I never told him to hurt Metal or even lay a finger on him for that matter."

"What are you going to do to him?" Lisanna asked, slightly worried for the man.

"I don't know...maybe the usual fight with-?" it cut itself off. "Nah...that's getting boring...eh, I'll figure it out later."

A few seconds of silence passed between us before something made it shiver, and then a smile crawled up its face.

"What's with you?" Gray sounded disturbed by the expression on its face. "Why the hell are you smiling?"

"She's awake from her nap," it sounded happy.

"Who is?" Gray asked.

It began to change, tanned skin paling, pink hair turning white and growing, until it had completely changed into the form of Lisanna.

"My best friend, that's who!" it smiled darkly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and see her before she wanders off again."

"Wait!" I stopped it before it could disappear.

"Hm?" it stopped, glancing over to me. "What is it?"

"Can we at least know your name before you go?" I asked.

"My name is Lisanna Strauss, of course!"

"She means your real name," Lisanna corrected, "not my name."

"Now why should I tell you that?" it tilted its head.

"If you don't tell us, then we're just going to keep calling you demon or creature or monster," Gray informed it. "You don't want that, do you?"

"Well, when you put it like that, that doesn't sound nice at all," it frowned as it straightened its head. "So I'll tell you my name...my _real_ name."

It shifted forms again, flesh and hair melting away until it was something I'd never seen before. The only way to describe the monster was a bipedal complete absence of light. It wasn't just blackness, it was nothing at all. It cast no shadow, gave off no odor. Teeth sharper than steak knives filled up its mouth, terrifying to look at. Its eyes were pits of darkness, save for the piercing turquoise dots that represented pupils; and it had the figure of a woman.

"I would show you my true form, but I don't think that's a good idea. So, you get to see the me that's wrapped up in this big blanket of shadows," the demon spoke, its voice eliciting a shudder from me.

"But what's your name?" Gray persisted.

"I don't officially have one, so I guess that my name is the name of my species: the PawPrinted Dream Dweller," she answered.

"That's a mouthful..." Lisanna pointed out.

"Honestly, nothing can please you all, can it?" she sighed. "Just call me Paw, then."

"That sounds good, we'll call you Paw," Natsu shrugged, before getting back to business. "But where are you keeping Luce and Mira?!"

"I swear, you're so confusing..." Paw sighed again. She then smiled, showing off her row of razor sharp teeth before lapsing back into Lisanna. "Now if you'll excuse me, my best friend is waiting for me. Farewell for now~"

She waved at us before disappearing, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a white dove flying away from the wreckage of the palace with a pair of plushies held in its talons, but I didn't pay too much attention to it.

"Did she go invisible, or teleport?" Juvia wondered.

"She had to have teleported," Gray answered. "She has no reason to stick around here when Mirajane or Lucy is awake."

"Then let's get moving," Erza determined. "The longer that we remain idle, the more of a chance that they'll be dead when we find them."

We got moving after that. However, I noticed that Gajeel had a worried expression on his face, and was trying his best to conceal it.

But I didn't have the courage ask him what was wrong.

* * *

 **Levy POV**

* * *

I was pacing around in a small dark underground cave that I had fallen into; the only way out was blocked by a large pile of rocks, so I was trapped.

 _This isn't good._ I thought to myself. _This really, really isn't good._

I was nervous, but I tried to stay calm as panicking wasn't going to solve or help anything in this situation.

 _The others haven't come looking for me yet...did they reach a dead end in the cave?_ Worry was gnawing at my insides for my friends. _Or did something attack them?_

I quickly shook my head to dismiss the thought of something bad happening to them.

 _No, I'm sure they're fine...they have to be._ I reassured myself. _I should be more concerned about my own well-being for now._

I had been pacing around the hole for so long that there was a slope in the floor I had been stomping over.

 _How am I going to get out of here? The only exit is blocked off, and I can't climb out._ I wondered. _So what do I do?!_

I continued pacing around for a few minutes, trying to think of ways to get out of here, until a dark thought popped into my mind.

 _They wouldn't leave me behind or forget about me, would they?_ I almost immediately shook my head again. _What am I thinking? They wouldn't leave me here or forget about me...I'm sure that they wouldn't._

I stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the room.

"There's no way that they would!" I began to have doubts, and chewed on my lip nervously. "...right?"

"LEVY!"

"Huh? Was that Gajeel's voice?" I spun around to look at the mound of rocks.

"Levy? Are you in there?!" his voice yelled. "Say something if you can hear me!"

"Gajeel! Is that you? I'm in here!" I ran over to the blocked exit. "I'm trapped in here! Can you get me out?"

"Get away from the wall! I'm gonna break it down!"

I hastily backstepped, watching as a few loud thuds were heard and then the rocks started falling away. Finally, an iron pole broke through the remaining wall before melting back into the hand of Gajeel Redfox.

"Found ya, Levy," he grinned at me, stepping inside. "I was wondering what was taking ya so long."

"It is you, Gajeel!" I smiled in relief. "How did you find me? And where's everyone else?"

"Followed my nose. And the others went on ahead and told me to catch up with them once I found you," he answered. "I'm glad to see that you're okay."

"And I'm glad to see you," I responded. "So what happened? What was at the end of the cave?"

"It was a palace where Wendy was," he replied. "I'll explain everything on the way."

"What direction are we heading in?"

"They didn't tell me, they just said that they were going looking for somebody else's personal paradise, so we shouldn't let them get too far away," he moved aside. "Ladies first."

"Who are you and what have you done with Gajeel?" I joked, walking past him and down the cave path he came from.

"Oh, nothing~"

That tone that he used was very suspicious, but I didn't pay it any mind as I continued walking with Gajeel following behind me. He told me all about what had happened, with me never once looking back at him.

That would turn out to be a big mistake as by doing that, I never noticed Gajeel's salient turquoise eyes.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer: For those of you have a problem with taking the villain seriously, I think that the best kind of villain are the ones that are hard or at least slightly difficult to hate and if you have any other problems with Paw then who says that you have to keep reading this story? Like most people say after all, if you don't like then don't read.**

 **Anyways...**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Sora translates into Sky in Japanese, just to let you readers know. Also Levy why didn't you just use your solid script magic? You could've made stairs, or a ladder, or a jackhammer... But hey, I'm here to edit, not to judge.**


	14. Chapter 13: Literature Village

**Gray POV**

* * *

When we made our way out of Wendy's personal paradise and into the forest again. We decided to head east, whilst filling Wendy in about everything.

"So Mirajane, Yukino and Lucy are here too?" I nodded in response to her question. "Who else is here?"

"We don't know, but Juvia would hope that no one else was taken by Paw," Juvia said.

"I hope so too," Wendy said softly. "Where are Happy, Carla and Pantherlily though?"

"They couldn't come with us because Levy said that using the spell on them would be too dangerous," Lisanna answered. "So they're in the real world taking care of us right now."

"Speaking of Levy, where is she?" Wendy asked.

"We got separated cause of her losing her papers," Gajeel answered. "She said that she would catch up with us when she got all of them back."

"Should it be taking this long, though?" Wendy asked, a concerned expression on her face. "What if something happened to her?"

"I'm sure that shrimp is fine," Gajeel scoffed. "The wind is probably just making her chase them."

"If you say so..."

We kept walking for a minute until I spoke up.

"So, what's with that scarf you're wearing?" I asked Wendy. "Yukino had one just like it...did Paw give it to you or something?"

"Well yes, she told me to never take it off no matter what. But I'm not sure why," she confirmed, one hand going up to touch the fabric of the scarf.

"Do you think that's what's keeping you from waking up?"

"I don't know, but even if it was then I don't want to take it off," the Sky Maiden answered. "I want to help you all save the others."

"Are you sure about that?" Erza questioned, wanting her to be sure. "Your life is in danger here, after all."

"Of course I'm sure," she nodded.

"Alright then, don't let your scarf come off," Erza cautioned, her eyes staring ahead.

"I'm not planning to," Wendy responded.

We kept walking until we came to a steep dirt path, leading up into the mountains. With glistening white caps, like a perfect storybook picture, the mountain range lay to the east. Like slumbering giants beneath thick blankets of white they lay in dreamless sleep as the eons ticked by like the second hand of a clock.

"Is this the next personal paradise?" Juvia asked, sounding a bit doubtful.

"It has to be," I answered. "But who's personal paradise is in the mountains?"

"The mountains have to be some sort of wall," Erza guessed, ignoring the argument Natsu and I just had. "Paw must have blocked the entrances to the personal paradises to keep us out."

"Then why is there a path?" Natsu asked, scratching his head. "If Paul and Dragon can teleport, then why can't anyone else?"

"It's Paw, not Paul," Gajeel corrected him. "And what makes you think that we know?"

"It was worth a shot," Natsu shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to ask, am I right?"

"Right," Erza answered, "Now let's go."

We all headed up the steep path and into the mountains. Either the mountains went on for miles or the fact that the mountains were a big maze made them feel like we were trekking a long distance. The path twisted from time to time, snaking around ancient trees. Roots criss-crossed, gnarled and uneven– as beautiful as any picture book illustration. I took in the colors with unshielded eyes and used my hands where the path raised in steep, uneven rocky steps, until we finally reached something.

It was a cave mouth of impenetrable blackness; as I stepped in, I watched my shadow dissolve into the surrounding darkness. However, upon further inspection, we reached a dead end.

We walked into dead end cave after dead end cave, small tunnel after small tunnel, for I forget how long until we reached what seemed like the peak of the mountains.

"We're finally out of that maze," Lisanna sighed, relieved.

"It's not over yet," Wendy pointed out. "We still have to go down."

"Seriously?!" Natsu whined, reluctant to go back through another maze.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "And we're gonna have to go back through again once it's time to leave."

"At least we already know the way," I was frowning, but I tried to think optimistically.

We kept walking until Lisanna seemed to spot something in the distance. She sped up her walk and went on ahead of us.

"Uhhh...Lisanna? Where are you going?" Natsu called after her. Usually he was the one to wander off.

Lisanna stopped and picked something up off the ground, "What is this doing here?"

"What is it?" Wendy asked, heading over to the Strauss girl. "What did you find?"

Lisanna turned around to face us. She was holding a book in her hand that looked brand new, its cover jade green leather with golden binding.

"I saw this book lying on the ground," she told us. "There's not a speck of dust on it, so it doesn't seem like it was dropped a long time ago."

"Any idea who dropped it?" I asked her.

"No clue. It's not a journal, so there's no name on it," she answered as she inspected it. "And it doesn't look like there's anything that could tell us who dropped it."

"It could turn out to be useful in some way," Erza suggested. "Let's bring it with us just in case."

We kept walking after that. However, there were many more books scattered along the path, with some of them even being stacked on top of each other, and all of them looking like they had just been bought.

I didn't understand why there were so many books strewn about, and I'm sure the others didn't understand either. That was, until we came upon what appeared to be a town, but it was very...abnormal. Quirky, if you wanted to be polite.

"I think this explains all of the books everywhere..." I commented, observing our new surroundings with some disbelief.

"How does this place tell us where those books came from?" Gajeel asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Just look at this place," I gestured to the town. If you could even call it a town, that is.

The houses were the only normal looking things about the place, being made out of metal and wood. Everything else was much different.

There was a road made out of hardcover books, the trees were made of books with the leaves being made out of pages; the benches were metal but painted to look like opened books, the lampposts were metal as well, but the ends of them was the glowing word 'light' which were most likely drawn by a light pen, and there were signs everywhere which all had library rules inscribed on them.

"With all of the books in this place, there's no way those books from earlier didn't come from here..." I finished.

"He has a point," Lisanna agreed with me, setting down the book she picked up earlier on a nearby bench.

"Do you guys think that this could be someone's...whatever it's called?" Natsu spoke up. I sighed at his stupidity.

"It's called a personal paradise, dumbass," I looked at him. "And it might be."

"Who's do you think it-?"

"Shh!" Gajeel quieted Wendy as he walked forwards.

"Ga-?"

"SSSSSHHHHH!" Gajeel hissed. "Quiet!"

"What's the matter, Gajeel?" Erza asked him. "What do you hear?"

"You don't hear that?" he asked, frowning. "Listen closely."

We all silenced ourselves, trying to hear what Gajeel was hearing. I didn't hear anything for a few seconds, until the faint sound of humming started.

 _Is that humming?_ By the looks on the other's faces, it seemed like they heard it too. "Where's it coming from?" I asked.

Gajeel walked around, listening for where the sound was strongest until he stopped at the upper path.

"It's coming from over here," he said, motioning us forward. "Come on."

We followed Gajeel to the source of the humming, finding a familiar face sitting at a merchant's stand that of course, sold books. They were reading one of the books as they hummed a cheery tune.

"Shrimp?" Gajeel cautiously approached Levy, who was sitting there. He didn't seem sure if it was actually her or not.

"Hm?" she set down the book and looked up at him. "Oh there you guys are! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Levy? What are you doing here?" Erza was clearly suspicious. "How did you get here before us?"

"Well, it took me awhile to get back all of my papers because of the breeze. Eventually, they just got blown into a pond..." she frowned at the loss of her papers. "After a while of standing there in shock, I decided to go looking for you guys."

"That doesn't answer my question," Erza frowned at her.

"I was getting to that...I thought that you guys would have already found Wendy, so I left the personal paradise and headed east," she continued. "I wound up getting distracted when I walked past this town, but it looks like it was a good thing because it gave you guys time to catch up with me."

"Oh," Erza still seemed to be wary of the blue haired girl.

"It's good to see that you're alright, Levy." Lisanna smiled.

"And it's good to see that you guys are alright too," she smiled back.

"Did you learn anything about this place before we got here?" Juvia asked.

"Well, this place is too big to search in one big group, so if we did that then we'd be here for a really long time. So I guess we're gonna have to split up," Levy answered. "Also, I heard something come from one of the houses that I passed by, but I'm a bit too scared to go in there on my own...can one of you come with me?"

"I'll go with scaredy shrimp and take a look at the big scary house," Gajeel teased her. "The rest of you go look around town."

"Come to the entrance to the town once you're done looking around," Erza addressed us.

After that, we all split up.

Erza went alone, Wendy paired with Natsu, Gajeel of course went with Levy, Lisanna went after Erza so that way Erza wouldn't be alone, and I went with Juvia.

"Where should we start looking Gray-sama?" Juvia asked me, her voice eager. "Wherever Gray-sama wants to start looking is where Juvia will start looking too, because Juvia will never leave Gray-sama!"

"Hmmm..." I had...mostly...gotten used to the stuff that Juvia would say, so it didn't bother me to hear that, as it was normal. "How about that way?"

"If that's where Gray-sama wants to go, then Juvia will follow!" she answered gleefully.

After Juvia said that, we walked down the book path to look around the right half of the town.

* * *

 **Erza POV**

* * *

I wandered around the town for a few minutes, looking for anything that could be useful, but so far I hadn't found anything that fit into that category.

 _Judging by the way that this place looks, this has to be someone's personal paradise._ I thought to myself. _I mean, a big empty town that looks like this can't just be a normal empty town, right?_

I passed by a few merchants stands, which were all selling books, writing supplies, magic items like light pens and gale force reading glasses, etc, but they didn't catch my attention.

 _So it has to be..._

In the distance, I saw someone walking in my direction carrying a large stack of books.

 _Who's that?_ I was unable to catch a glimpse their face. All I could see was a bit of earthy brown hair peeking from behind the books.

They were halfway towards me when they turned towards a house and began trying to open the door without dropping the books.

"Ugh...come on..." they grumbled in annoyance. "Open up..."

 _Is that...Cana?_ I was able to see them better now.

Cana managed to get the door open without dropping any of the books that she was carrying, and went inside the house, kicking the door shut behind her.

 _That must be the Cana from earlier._ I determined, humming softly as I thought. _What is she doing out here?_

I went over to the house and started trying to look through windows, but most of them were covered up by curtains that were weaved from pages. Finally, I found one that had an opening big enough for me to peer inside.

 _What's going on in there?_ I wondered as I tried to get a better look past the curtains.

I saw Cana going around a neatly furnished room, passing out books to Jet, Droy and Kinana who were all in there. But that wasn't the only person who was there.

"Do you think that this will be enough books?" Cana asked as she walked around the room.

"I'm as sure as I'll ever be!" Levy was inside, wearing a scarf that had different colored books on it. "Reading is so much fun, don't you guys agree?"

"It sure is," Droy said, bobbing his head up and down.

"Reading takes you to places that not even I can get to with my speed," Jet admitted.

"It's like one big adventure without any of the dangers of a real one!" Kinana said optimistically, a smile on her face.

"Exactly! No danger, no risk, but still a lot of fun!" Levy beamed at the people around her. "Now shush, it's reading time and that means no talking...got it?"

Everyone quietly nodded and began to flip through their books in complete silence.

 _That...that can't be the real Levy, can it?_ I was thoroughly confused. _We found the real Levy a little while ago, and even though she seemed strange, she was still the real one, so this one has to be fake...right?_

I noticed that there were some papers sitting on a nearby table and I recognized them as Levy's papers after a few seconds. Not only that, but why would there be a fake Levy here just entertaining these people?

 _She's real...that's the real Levy._ I took a step back from the window. _But why did Paw go after her? And how did Levy fall for it? Did she put some sort of spell on her?_

Questions raced through my mind at a rapid speed, until I focused on a single, unpleasant thought.

 _If the real Levy is in there...then who the hell is with Gajeel right now?_ I wondered. _Every fake person has been dressed in pajamas just like the people in there, but Paw is always dressed in normal clothing._

It didn't take more than a second for me to realize who they were.

 _I have to warn him before it's too late._ I thought desperately.

I was about to take off running when there was a painful pang in my head, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"A-ah!" I exclaimed. "What the-?"

"Don't...ge...st...pun...not...sta..." I heard someone talking to me.

"Wha...what's happening?" Confusion and fear twisted in a warped combination in my stomach. "No...I-I can't let this distract me, I have to warn Gajeel before it's too late."

I held my head with my hand as I went back the way I came, trying to ignore the strange voice that was trying to talk to me until it stopped after about a minute. Once it faded, I was able to start running and let go of my head.

* * *

 **Happy Late/Early Halloween to everyone!**

 **Review plz?**


	15. Chapter 14: Requiem for Slaughter

**Gajeel POV**

* * *

Levy brought me to what I assumed was the house that she was talking about earlier.

"Is this the place?" I asked, turning my head to look at her.

"Uh-huh," she nodded in confirmation. "Could you go in first, though? I'm kind of too scared to go in myself."

"Sure thing, scaredy cat," I teased her playfully.

I opened the door to the house and walked inside, my footsteps creaking on the oak floor. It was a pretty normal looking house from what I could see, with nothing out of the ordinary inside of it.

"Shrimp, you can come in," I told her as I walked further into the house. "There's nothing here."

When I didn't get a response, I stopped and looked over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorway with her eyes being shadowed by her blue hair. But despite that, I felt as if she was staring directly at me.

"Shrimp?" I asked, swerving around to face her fully. "You alright?"

She didn't say anything, instead tapping her foot against the wooden floor of the house. I didn't understand what was going until the floor beneath my feet changed into a liquid substance, cool and fluent like water.

"W-what the hell?!"

I tried to get free, but it was no use as I sunk down to my waist, before it hardened and became like wood again. But that didn't stop me from trying to get free.

"Got you~!"

I looked up, only to see that Levy had moved to stand just out of arm's reach of me. Her eyes were no longer shadowed, instead now a lambent turquoise, and her teeth were deadly sharp.

"Hey! You're Paw!" I realized, quickly getting angry.

"The one and only," she smirked at me with her shark teeth.

"You bitch! Where's the real Levy?! What the hell did you do with her?!" I yelled, trying to get her with my arms but I couldn't touch her. "And what are you doing here?! I thought ya said you were gonna see bunny girl!"

"First, that's for me to know and you to never find out," she answered smugly. "And secondly, I was, but I used my powers to put her back to sleep...I can't have her awake and wandering around when I'm busy taking care of you all~"

"Let me outta here you shady bitch!" I snarled, glaring at her furiously.

"No, I don't think I will," she replied with a cocky smirk, "How about you stay here for a while? That way I can, 'take care' of the rest of your friends."

"You stay the hell away from them!" I growled, struggling more vigorously to get free. "Especially shrimp! If you go anywhere near her, I swear-"

"Awwww...does someone have a little crush? That's adorable, it really is!" she flashed me a mock smile. "But don't you worry, I won't lay a hand on her...until maybe after I'm finished with you and the other Fairies. I might just get attached to her, after all!"

She headed for the door after that, but stopped and stood in the doorway.

"Be a good boy now, okay?" Paw smiled as her eyes and teeth shifted back to looking normal.

She didn't wait for a response as she shut the door, leaving me alone with only the sunlight streaming through the paper windows for illumination.

 _I can't let that happen._ I told myself as I struggled. _I have to get out of here before that wench kills them all!_

I struggled as hard as I possibly could to get free, and tried to use my magic too, but to no avail.

"Holy shit! What is this floor made of?!" I asked no one as I continued my attempts.

* * *

 **Erza POV**

* * *

When I made my way back to the area where all of us were supposed to conven, I saw that Lisanna, Juvia and Gray were already there, casually talking with each other.

"So, I'm guessing that you couldn't find Erza?" Gray asked Lisanna, frowning.

"Afraid not. Did you two find anything useful?" Lisanna replied.

Juvia opened her mouth to respond when I spoke up.

"Guys!"

They turned their attention to me as I stopped in front of them.

"Hi Erza," Lisanna greeted me. "What is it? Did you find anything?"

"Yes, I did, and it was the fact that the Levy with Gajeel right now isn't real."

"What makes you think that?" Lisanna frowned.

"I saw the real Levy earlier. I know that it was her because she was wearing a scarf like the one Wendy's wearing. Her papers were with her as well," I answered.

"Then who the hell is with Gajeel?" Gray asked.

"It's Paw...it has to be Paw," I replied, clenching my fists. "I know that she's going to do something bad to Gajeel, I just know it."

"What are we going to do?" Juvia asked, her eyes showing her concern for her friend. "We have to help Gajeel, but we have to save Levy too."

"I'll go and help Gajeel, you guys save Levy," Gray told us.

Without waiting for a response, Gray left to go search for Gajeel and Paw.

"So where's Levy?" Lisanna asked.

"It's this way, follow me," I responded.

I led Lisanna and Juvia to the building where Levy was being kept. Putting my hand on the doorknob, I looked back at them.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked. "We might have to fight."

"I'm ready when you are," Lisanna answered. "What about you Juvia?"

"Juvia is ready," the water mage nodded.

"Then let's go," I looked back at the door.

I opened it, but to my surprise saw that Cana, Jet, Droy and Kinana were bound with rope. Levy stood in the middle of the room, facing away from us. However, she wasn't wearing a scarf so I immediately knew it was Paw.

"Levy? Is that you?" Lisanna asked, her tone cautionary.

"Hm?" she swiveled around to face us. "Oh hey! You sure have some excellent timing, I just captured these guys! Maybe they can tell us where the others are!"

"Stop talking like that," I glared at her. "We know that you aren't real Levy, so drop the act."

"Huh? I'm not real?" she tried to feign shock. "Why would you say that, Erza?"

"Erza said that she saw the real Levy in here earlier," Juvia answered. "So we know that you aren't Levy."

"Then who am-?"

"Drop the facade already, Paw," I interrupted. "We know it's you."

There were a few seconds of silence between us, before Paw sighed, causing her eyes to melt away to turquoise and her teeth to become razor-like.

"Well, it was worth a shot I guess," she shrugged, a lopsided frown on her face.

"What did you do with Levy?" Lisanna demanded. "And where's Gajeel?"

"Sorry, but that's a secret," she grinned at us, baring her teeth. "And I don't tell secrets to wicked people who take my friends away from me and make my other ones disappear or cry."

Cana got up off the floor, causing the ropes to disappear like an illusion. She placed a hand on Paw's shoulder, causing her to glance back at the brunette.

"Master, just go," the female mage said. "You have a lot of things to take care of, don't you?"

"You're right, Card," Paw confirmed. "I do."

"Then go and take care of them," the now identified Card told her. "Let Speed, Plant, Snake and I take care of these jokers."

"Are you guys sure you can handle it?" Paw appeared a bit hesitant to leave them behind.

"Of course we're sure," Speed spoke up, formally known as Jet. "How hard can it be?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too difficult," said Plant. "Now get going, Master."

"Alright, but be careful," she warned. "The last thing I need is for you to disappear like the others."

Card took her hand off of Paw's shoulder and Paw waved at us before teleporting away.

Once she was gone, Speed, Plant and Snake got up off of the floor with their ropes vanishing as well. They stared directly at us, appearing to be ready for a scuffle.

"We don't have time for this," this was tedious, we were wasting time. "Come on, we have to find Levy and Gajeel."

"How are you going to find them if you don't know where they are?" Snake asked.

That stopped us from leaving.

"Listen, let's make a deal," Card suggested.

"What kind of deal?" Juvia asked, reasonably suspicious of them.

"We fight and if you beat us, we'll tell you where Levy is," Card answered. "We can't tell you where Gajeel is though, because we literally have no idea."

"And if you win?"

"Then you have to leave the dream realm and never come back," Card answered.

"You aren't going to kill us?" Lisanna frowned, confused.

"Heck no..." Speed said, appalled. "Do you think that we're murderers or something?"

"Uhhhh..."

"You think that we're murderers?" Plant frowned. "Why would you think that? We're meant to keep dreamers company, not kill people!"

"Then why do you wish to fight us?" Juvia inquired.

"We _do_ have some fighting skill after all for a situation like this. We have to be able protect the dreamers somehow," Snake explained. "But even if you may be stronger than us, it can't hurt to try."

"So, do we have a deal or what?" Card asked, crossing her arms over her large chest.

I thought about it for a bit before deciding.

"Deal."

"Better get ready then," Card uncrossed her arms. "Because here we come!"

The four of them ran towards us and I fought them alongside Juvia and Lisanna.

It wasn't very hard to defeat them, seeing as they had all of the attacks of their real selves with a few new abilities, like slightly distorting the room and teleporting out of the way of attacks, but they only did that a few times before stopping.

With one final blast from Juvia's water magic, they were knocked to the ground with a loud thump.

"Had enough?" I asked them, smiling.

"You...win..." Card wheezed between breaths.

"Then keep your end of the deal and tell us where Levy is," I commanded.

"Also, how did you do all of those things?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"To answer the animal girl's question, we can copy the abilities of the person that we take the form of. We also have a much weaker version of Master's powers," Snake informed us.

"But how do you know what they look like?" Lisanna stopped me from repeating my question.

"Much like Master, we can see into the memories of dreamers and shapeshift into people that they know," Snake answered. "But unlike Master, who can see as much as she wants, we can only see a year into their most recent memories."

"We also like to take on these nifty little code names instead of our real ones," Plant continued. "It's cool, isn't it?"

"Juvia guesses. But why not use your real ones?" Juvia asked, making me sigh because once again, I was cut off.

"We could, but it's less fun that way," Speed shrugged. "And it's kind of a big red flag if we call each other by our real names, isn't it?"

Juvia and Lisanna both gave a murmur of agreement.

"Anyways, what was your question again, red hair?" Card looked at me.

"Where's Levy?" I repeated.

"She's in the big building that looks like an elaborate library," Card said, keeping her end of the agreement. "Just continue down the road, make a right, then a left, then another right after the first right you pass, then keep following that road until you reach the center of town."

"You could have just said she was at the center of town," I frowned.

"I know," she answered. "Anyways, red hair...is something bothering you? You look upset...did something happen?"

The memory of Knight popped back into my head and I averted my gaze to the floor in front of me.

"Erza? What's the matter?" Lisanna sounded worried.

"Why don't you guys leave her here with us for a little while?" Card suggested. "She can talk about what's bothering her and then once you guys are done with Levy, you can come back and get her."

"Do you wanna stay here?" Juvia asked me, but I didn't respond. "Erza?"

After a few seconds of staring at the floor trying to get Knight out of my head, I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulders and usher me away from Juvia and Lisanna.

"I don't think your friend is gonna respond," Speed told them. "Just leave her with us."

"You have nothing to worry about," Plant reassured them. "We'll take good care of her and we won't lay a hand on her...well, to harm her anyways."

"If you say so..." Lisanna sounded unsure. "Come on, Juvia."

I heard footsteps, then the sound of a door opening, and the door closing.

"You can sit in Levy's seat," Speed told me.

I sat down in a chair and I looked up from my lap to see that everyone was sitting down in their own chairs. Once they had all sat down, they looked at me.

"So, what's bothering you?" Snake asked me.

I didn't respond as I was too busy trying to get the memory of Knight out of my head.

"You know, you don't have to be quiet about it..." she frowned. "It could help a lot to talk about what ails you."

I didn't say anything that time, either.

"Hmmm," Card hummed.

"What's the matter, Card?" Speed looked at her.

"Is it just me, or does she remind you guys of Knight?" Card asked. "Hardly ever talking, usually using a sword to fight even if the person that she took the form of didn't wield a sword?"

Before any of them could respond, I spoke up.

"You knew Knight?" my voice cracked at the end.

"Yeah, she was a good friend of ours and actually is supposed to be the leader of the area past these mountains," Plant answered, before looking at me hopefully. "Did you see her?"

"Yes, but she said that..." I trailed off, wondering if she had to lied to me.

"Knight disappeared after terrifying monsters appeared all over this place when Master caught a really bad fever. She created monsters all over the place because she couldn't think straight," Speed explained. "We stayed hidden for as long as we could, but it was no use since it was only a matter of time before they found us."

"So we made a plan to make a run for the mountains and wait there until Master got better, but on the way there, we were ambushed by the monsters," Plant continued. "Knight tried to fight them off and protect us, but it was no use. They proved too strong for her."

"When Knight couldn't fight them anymore, they attacked us and we all played dead so that way we wouldn't, you know...die," Snake continued. "I don't remember how long we played dead, but when we finally opened our eyes, we saw that Knight was gone."

"The four of us have been living in these mountains because of the area being destroyed by the monsters, and searching for her ever since because we had a feeling that she's out there somewhere," Card finished. "So, have you seen her?"

I couldn't help but look back down at my lap.

 _Knight wasn't alone. Her friends were alive and some of them were looking for her. But she spent years believing that they were dead and feeling guilty because she couldn't protect them._ I thought to myself. _What do I tell them? They've been looking for her all this time and I killed her._

"Red hair?"

 _Murderer...I'm a murderer._

My shoulders began to shake and I could feel my eyes stinging as tears formed.

"I'm a horrible person," I started to cry.

"What? Red hair...why would you say that about yourself?" I could hear the shock in Card's voice.

"Just because you don't know where Knight is, doesn't mean that you're a horrible person," Plant tried to tell me.

"You...you don't..."

"I think that someone needs a hug," said Speed. "Come on guys."

I glanced up from my lap to see that they were all getting out of their seats and walking towards me. They surrounded me and squeezed me tightly yet comfortingly in a big group hug.

It was a few seconds into the hug when I felt the pang from earlier in my head once again, but this time the voice that spoke to me was much clearer.

 _They aren't...are fake...imposters all of...punish them...ting the dead..._

 _No! They are real, they aren't an illusion created by someone or even someone in disguise!_ I tried to mentally talk with them, despite my headache.

 _Impossible...are fake...disguised or illusion...must be...take no...an answer..._ The voice was louder now, boring into my skull.

 _No, don't!_ I tried to plead. _I don't want anymore blood on my hands! Don't hurt them!_

 _Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake._ The voice repeated over and over again in my head.

I began to become dizzy, and it only got worse and worse with every passing second until I blacked out. The last thing that I remember was feeling was my requip magic activate, and a soft weapon appearing in my hand.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer: What's happening to Erza? Only I know the answer! But until I reveal the answer, feel free to take a guess at what's going on!**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Mank demes.**


	16. Chapter 15: Paper and Metal

**Juvia POV**

* * *

Lisanna and I made it to the center of the town where a large building was. It resembled a library and even had a sign hanging in front of the door that was blank.

"Do you think that this is the place that Card told us about?" I asked.

"Oh no, I'm sure that there's another giant library at the middle of the town around here."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit your character..."

"I know, sorry. I was just trying it out."

"Juvia forgives you. Now, come on," I began to push open the double doors to the building.

We headed inside of the building, but we left the doors open so that way if one of the others came across the building, it was an incentive to come inside. That way if we needed help, we would get it.

"You know, this place looks more like a museum than a library," Lisanna pointed out.

For a moment, I just stare at the shelves and shelves of books before me. From far away, the shelves are a collage of stories, each story taking the physical form of a book with its own unique size and color. The shelves are quilts of writing, they are stages of an art unique from any other.

"Outside appearances can be deceiving," I responded.

"No kidding."

We walked down the hall past quite a lot of shelves filled with books.

After a while, we came to a part of the hallway that was cluttered with old pottery and a wooden sign hanging from the ceiling.

"Please do not harm the pottery," I read aloud. "Rule breakers will be severely punished by the guards."

"What guards?" Lisanna asked, looking around. "I don't see any guards here."

I noticed statues standing at the other end of the hall, shaped to look like ancient warriors complete with armor.

"Maybe it means them?" I pointed to the statues.

"...Juvia, those are statues," Lisanna said, looking at me with a deadpan expression.

"Juvia knows, but this is a dream world where anything can happen, remember?"

Lisanna face-palmed.

"And even if anything can't happen here, maybe the statues are enchanted?" I suggested. "Paw does seem powerful enough to do that sort of thing, after all."

Lisanna face-palmed with her other hand. **X-Box Achievement: Double Facepalm**

"How did I not think of that?" the ivory haired girl groaned.

"Juvia doesn't know," I answered. "Maybe you couldn't help but forget? A lot of strange and unsettling stuff has occurred today."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Lisanna removed her hands from her face. "Anyways, let's go."

We slowly made our way through the hallway, being careful to not knock over and break any of the pottery. It took a while, but we made it to the other side of the hallway without breaking the items.

"Finally across..." Lisanna was relieved to finally be out of the hallway, as was I.

We continued through the building, coming across a few similar hallways. But when we had finally reached the end, we came to a pair of fancy looking double doors that had warrior statues sitting on both sides of it.

"Levy must be in here," Lisanna predicted. "Are you ready to go in?"

"Juvia is ready, but be careful."

"I'm not planning on letting my guard down even for a second," said Lisanna with an unintended pun. "Especially when Paw could be in there with her."

"That's not the only reason for you to be careful...the statues could come to life and attack us when you touch the doors if they're enchanted like the others," I warned her.

"How do I not think of this stuff?" she grumbled to herself, sounding irritated.

"Don't beat yourself up...you are probably just too focused on the task at hand that you forget to think about it," I responded. "But come on, let's go."

Lisanna grabbed the door handles and tried to open them up, but they were too heavy. I ended up having to help her push them open, and luckily the statues didn't come to life and attack us during this.

 _That's a relief._ I thought to myself.

Once the doors were open, we headed inside and the doors shut behind us.

The walls of the room all had old paintings hung up on them, and there was a regal looking throne at the other end of the room. A long, jade green rug with tassels on the sides lead up to the throne, and big letters made out of all sorts of fonts were embedded into the floor, almost looking like just a normal part of the ground.

"Wow, this book looks like it's thousands of years old," the real Levy was sitting on the throne, her legs crossed. "Are you sure that it's okay for me to read it?"

"Of course I'm sure," Paw-in-the-form-of-Gajeel was offering an ancient looking tome to her. "I'm sure that you'll take great care of it."

"Thanks!" she smiled as she took it from him.

Levy delicately opened up the book and began to read it as Paw moved to stand at the side of the throne. She glanced over, apparently seeing us, and couldn't stop herself from frowning.

"Oh great, just great..." I could hear Paw mutter to herself. "I knew it was a bad idea, letting those four take care of them. But did I listen to my instincts? Noooo, of course I didn't."

Paw was about to head towards us and most likely attack, when Levy looked up from her book.

"Gajeel? Did you say something?"

Levy noticed us and smiled in our direction.

"Oh, hello there!" she greeted us in a cheerful manner. "Who are you?"

"Levy, it's Lisanna and Juvia," I tried to tell her.

"Don't tell me you don't remember us," Lisanna frowned.

"Remember you? But how could I remember you if I don't even know who you are?" she tilted her head, not understanding. "And how do you know my name?"

"Because we're your friends and you need to remember us. If you don't, then you might die," Lisanna explained.

"I might? Doesn't that mean you're not sure if I'll die or not?"

"Well, we don't exactly know if you'll die or not because you weren't pulled into your dreams by Paw like the others, so..." I couldn't stop herself from trailing off.

"Then that means that there's a large chance that I'll be completely fine!" the smile returned to her face. "And if there _is_ someone named Paw that's coming after me, Gajeel will protect me, right?"

'Gajeel' looked at her and nodded.

"Right, I'll protect you. But there's no need for me to do so," she responded. "Paw wouldn't hurt a fly."

"If that's the case, there's really nothing to worry about," Levy turned her attention back to us. "So I appreciate your concern for me, but you don't have to worry. I'm not in any danger."

"He or she or whatever is lying to you right now!" Lisanna loudly exclaimed.

Levy frowned at that as she gingerly closed the book, placed it off to the side, and standing up from her throne.

"You know, there's not supposed to be any loud voices in a place like this," she spoke in a soft tone, but was audible enough for us to hear. "And I don't like the fact that you called my friend a liar, either, when he's been nothing but truthful to me."

"We're sorry, but-"

"I've heard just about enough from you. You're not even supposed to be in here...this room is off limits to everyone but Gajeel and I," she shifted her attention to Paw. "Gajeel, could you please get rid of them for me?"

"Gladly," Paw smirked, her teeth slowly becoming sharp and her eyes turning turquoise as well.

She began to walk toward us as we got ready to fight.

"Stay away from us!" Lisanna yelled.

"No can do, you broke the rules...didn't you see the sign above the door?" Paw asked as she marched towards us. "Trespassers will be punished, and you fit right into that category."

Paw was only a few feet away from us when the doors hurled open, causing her to stop.

"Shrimp!"

We looked behind us to see that Gajeel was here, and my beloved Gray with him.

"Gray-sama!" I was so happy to see him. "You found Gajeel!"

"He wasn't hard to find him," he responded. "I heard him yelling like a madman from halfway across town. Dude has some fucking lungs."

Gajeel ran towards Levy, but Paw quickly blocked his path.

"Get out of my way," Gajeel growled at her.

"I'll get of your way if you turn around and leave," Paw snapped.

"Not a chance," Gajeel threw a punch, but Paw leaned to the side in order to dodge it.

"Eh? Two Gajeel's?" Levy sounded confuzzled. "How is that possible?"

"Simple! This one isn't real!" Gajeel tried to tell her as he continued trying to attack Paw, but she kept moving out of the way. "This Gajeel is a monster in disguise, shrimp! I'm the real deal!"

"How are you my real friend if you're the one calling me names?" Levy frowned.

"I'm not calling you names! It's more like a nickname!" Gajeel claimed.

"Bullshit! What kind of nickname is 'shrimp'?" Paw asked as she dodged his attacks. "He's a fake, Levy! Don't listen to him!"

"She's lying, Levy! Don't listen to her!" the iron dragon slayer beseeched, continuing to try and hit her.

"No, _you're_ lying!"

"I, ummm...uhhh..." Levy didn't know what to think, torn between the pair.

The fight between the two continued with Gajeel throwing attacks and Paw dodging them like it was nothing.

"Ugh...forget this," Gray huffed impatiently. "Juvia, I need you to make the floor from here to Paw wet; try to make her legs wet too if you can."

"Yes, Gray-sama!" I obeyed, happy to serve my love's needs.

I used my magic to make a large puddle connecting from Paw's legs to the ground in front of us. Paw was too distracted with dodging Gajeel's attacks to notice that her legs were soaked in my water.

"Thanks, Juvia," he thanked me.

Gray stepped in the puddle and used his magic to freeze it, ice spreading from the water to Paw's legs. They became frozen, rendering her unable to move.

"H-hey!" she stuttered, "No fair!"

"Gajeel, go to Levy!" Gray yelled to the dragon slayer. "I'll keep Paw from bothering you."

"Thanks, stripper," Gajeel replied.

Gajeel turned his attention to Levy, who couldn't help but flinch when his gaze locked onto her. He then began to walk toward the blue haired girl.

"Stay away from me!" she squeaked, pressing her back against her throne.

"Shrimp, it's me...the real Gajeel. I'm not gonna hurt ya, so calm down," he said slowly, continuing his advance towards her.

"But how do I know that you're the real one and not just a trick or an illusion?" she demanded. "Or if you're just lying?"

"Take off that scarf and you'll see," Gajeel assumed that it wasn't keeping her asleep like Wendy's. "I bet that you'll remember everything if you just take it off."

"No, I can't...Gajeel told me to never take it off because it's a symbol of our friendship," she pleaded, "and even if you are the real one, then that means you were one of the people who forgot about me in that hole and left me behind."

"What?" Gajeel stopped.

"I was trapped down in a hole before the Gajeel over there saved me. He gave me the scarf that I'm wearing and told me my friends forgot about me and left me there," Levy explained, her eyes full of hurt. "So if you are my real friend, then that means you left me behind to rot in that place."

"And what kind of friend does-?" Paw tried to ask.

"Quiet you," Gray commanded, putting his hand on her mouth and freezing it over, forming a makeshift gag. Her eyes widened in surprise. She tried struggling to get it off, to no avail.

"Hey...before I say what I'm about to say, _none of this_ leaves this room and it never happened either," Gajeel looked over his shoulder at us. "Got it?"

We nodded, and Gajeel looked back at Levy who was glaring daggers at him.

"Shrimp, I didn't forget about you. The reason I didn't come after you was cause I didn't know you were trapped in a hole. But if I did, then I would've gone back," he told her. "I couldn't stop thinking about you while we were saving Wendy."

"What?" her tawny brown eyes softened as she gazed at him.

"Hell, I would never admit this in a million years, but you mean enough to me to the point where I don't care if these guys hear me say it," Gajeel chuckled. "If it means that I can bring ya back to your senses, then I'll say it as much as I have to. I care about you."

"You...no...how do I know that you aren't just saying that?" Levy pressed further back into the chair.

"If I didn't care about ya, then I wouldn't have gotten this for you, would I?" he asked, taking out the satchel. "Here, catch."

Gajeel tossed it to her and Levy caught it. She held it in her hands, looking over it.

"What...what is this?"

"It's a bag. I got it for you at a store we came across," he answered, "you kept dropping your papers, so I thought that you could use it. If I didn't care about ya then I wouldn't of thought of you, now would I?"

She looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"You do care..." she said softly, looking at him with gleaming eyes.

"Right, I do. Now take off the scarf," Gajeel told her. "Trust me, you'll remember everything."

Levy seemed slightly reluctant as she reached for her scarf with one hand.

"Nfh! Dohf!" Paw tried to plead, but her voice was muffled by the ice.

Levy pulled off her scarf and Paw's eyes looked slightly heartbroken, but I didn't say anything about it.

"So? Did it work or what?" Gajeel asked.

"It worked, I remember everything," Levy answered. "Sorry that I let myself get caught."

"Don't worry about it, just come on," Gajeel said, motioning her over to him.

Levy headed towards Gajeel and stopped in front of him.

"Oh and Gajeel, thanks for caring about me," she smiled at him, and he blushed.

"W-whatever, just don't mention it. I'm serious...don't," he commanded, looking away from her like the tsundere he was. "Now, let's go."

Gajeel and Levy walked towards us, but Levy stopped when she was in front of Paw.

"Shrimp? Why'd you stop?"

"Gray, can you take the ice off this thing's mouth?" she requested. "I want to ask it something."

"Sure, but it's a her, not an it," the devil slayer answered, walking back over to Paw.

"How do you know that?"

"Long story, but it happened after we rescued Wendy," he replied. "Apparently, she's called a PawPrinted Dream Dweller, but we call her Paw because she said she doesn't have a name."

"Oh."

Gray came over and dispelled the ice that was preventing Paw from vocalizing.

"Okay, now that you can talk, I want you to tell me something," Levy spoke to her. "Why did you come after me?"

"Because I saw that you were trapped so I came up with a plan. I would kidnap you so your friends wouldn't have their information anymore, that way there would be a larger chance of failure for them," Paw explained. "And once it was all over, I was planning to get rid of you, but I got attatched to you and I wanted to love you like how I love the others."

"If you wanted to love me, then why did you manipulate my mind and make me forget my friends?" Levy asked, frowning.

"Is there some other way to love people?" she looked confused.

"Yes, there are many different ways."

"Different ways to love people? That sounds silly...there's only one way for someone like me to never be lonely again, and that's by loving them and making sure that they'll never leave you!" Paw claimed, before her eyes sifted over to the boys.

"If the ones you loved were threatened to be taken from you, wouldn't you do everything in your power to stop that?"

Gajeel averted his eyes, and I frowned. I knew how Gajeel only had a few people truly close to him, and not much else...he would definitely relate to her words. My eyes moved over to Gray, who was looking at the floor, his body tense. My beloved Gray has lost everyone he's ever loved his whole life, of course he knows how that feels. It probably haunts him every day...just what kind of game is this she-beast playing at?

"But you don't have to-"

"I'm done listening, so you listen instead...if you want you leave me when I've done nothing but love you, then go ahead. Just don't come back," Paw snarled, causing the entire left half of her body to become enveloped in shadowy markings. "You're the one choosing to abandon me, after all."

Paw's voice sounded both angry and hurt. She shut her eyes tightly as she turned her head away from Levy.

"That goes for you and the other two! If you choose to abandon me after all I've done is love you, then don't come back!" she yelled.

Paw began to disappear after that.

"Wait!" Levy tried to stop her, but it was too late. She was gone.

"You know, even though she's the enemy, I can't help but feel sorry for her now," Levy frowned.

"Why's that?"

"She feels so alone despite the fact that there's all these people around her, real or not. But now that she isn't lonely anymore, all of her friends are leaving her and being taken away," she answered.

"There's nothing we can do to fix that though," I reminded her. "If we don't rescue the people that are trapped here, then they'll die."

"I know, but still..." Levy looked a bit sad.

"Just try not to think about it," Gajeel told her. "That'll probably help you."

"I'll try to," Levy responded.

"Anyways, let's get out of here," Lisanna said. "The others are probably looking for us right now."

We left the room after that, but I was unable to get Paw's words out of my head.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): Raise your hand if you feel sorry for Paw *raises hand* but don't raise your hand if you don't.**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): *also raises hand***


	17. Chapter 16: Death on the Agenda

**Levy POV**

* * *

Once we had finally gotten out of the building, we saw that Natsu and Wendy were walking across the street in the distance.

"Hey Natsu, Wendy!" Lisanna shouted, waving at them to get their attention.

They noticed us, and Natsu waved back before heading over with Wendy.

"So, this is where you guys were," Natsu said. "We've been looking all over for you."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Oh, you found Levy," Wendy smiled at me. "It's good to see that you aren't hurt."

"It's good to see you too," I smiled back, "but why were you two looking for us?"

"I got a bad feeling a while ago, and I thought something happened to someone," Natsu answered. "But you guys don't look hurt so what the hell was that about?"

"I don't..." Lisanna trailed off. "Wait...you don't think that those four attacked Erza, do you Juvia?"

"That's impossible, there's no way that they would be able to hurt Erza," Juvia shook her head. "Erza is too strong for them, even if it is four against one."

"What are you guys talking about?" Natsu asked, frowning. "And where's Erza?"

"Well..." Lisanna dragged out the 'well' as she shifted her gaze to ground of books.

"You two...what did you do with Erza?" all eyes were on the takeover mage and water wielder now.

"We kinda...sorta...left her with four dream people...because something was bothering Erza, and they wanted to see if they could make her feel better..." Lisanna awkwardly stated.

"But that bad feeling you had earlier Natsu, may be because they attacked her," Juvia continued.

There was silence for a few seconds as we processed what they said.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"They were pretty easy to defeat, and they said that they're meant to keep dreamers company instead of murder people," Lisanna winced.

"And what was stopping them from holding back their real strength and then lying to you to get one of you alone?" I asked.

"I...I don't know," Lisanna frowned, suddenly looking worried.

"Knowing Erza, she's not going down without a fight. And with how strong she is there's definitely still time to save her," I couldn't stop myself from sighing.

"Then what are we standing around here for?" Natsu asked, clenching his fists so tight his knuckles went white. "We're wasting time! We gotta go before it's too late!"

"Right," Juvia nodded, "follow us."

Juvia and Lisanna led us through the town, weaving in and out between the buildings until we reached a building that I assumed was where they'd left Erza.

"Is this where you left Erza?" I asked, looking at them.

"Yes," the two girls said in usion.

"Everyone get ready for a fight," Gray said, cracking his knuckles.

We all prepared ourselves in case we had to throw down. We headed inside of the building, only to find that there was a truly horrific sight waiting for us. One that I thought I would never have seen in a million years.

"Holy shit!"

There was dark red blood smeared on the walls and floor, even on the ceiling. A faint dripping sound could be heard from somewhere, and intestines were spewed onto the floor in pinkish brown coils. Clumps of hair matted with blood, chucks of flesh, even a few teeth were splattered randomly around the room like a child's grotesque art project.

Crimson-stained books were lying around the room like they had been thrown, and fours plushies laid in heavy pools of blood on the floor. As I looked down in disbelief, the air took the aroma of a butcher shop.

And there was Erza, standing in the middle of the room, facing away from us.

"E-Erza?" Wendy's voice came out as a timid squeak.

Slowly, she turned around to face us, and I inhaled sharply upon seeing the front of her.

She had blood dripping off of her armor, and her eyes were puffy like she had been crying. Her chestnut brown eyes were filled with sorrow and regret, and her mouth was parted slightly.

"Erza? What happened?" Gray asked her cautiously.

"I...I..." she tried to tell us, but her voice came out choked with emotion.

"Did those guys attack you, Erza?" Natsu asked, stepping towards her. "Where'd they go?"

"Stay away from me!" she yelled shrilly, immediately going into defensive mode.

"What?" Natsu stopped.

"I don't care where you stand, just don't come over here!" Erza ordered. "There's something _wrong_..."

"Erza, you're starting to sound a bit like that other you," Natsu cut her off. "Speaking of which, what happened to her?"

"I..." she tried to speak as she looked down at the floor. "I mur..."

Erza wasn't able to finish her sentence as she bit her lip, most likely stop herself from crying again. Wendy carefully went over to her and placed a comforting hand on her arm, despite all the blood.

"It's alright, Erza," Wendy said softly. "You don't have to tell us right now, you can tell us when you're ready."

"But I kille..."

"You only attacked them cause they attacked ya first," Gajeel cut her off. "And besides, I'm sure that you didn't kill anyone...if you had killed them, then their bodies would be around here."

"And there are no bodies, so I'm sure that they're injured but fine," Gray continued.

Erza didn't respond, just stayed quiet.

"Come on, Erza...let's get out of here and find a place to take a quick rest," Wendy took her hand and began to lead her out of the building.

We got out of the way and Wendy walked past us with Erza's hand held in her own smaller one. The others followed after them, but I stayed behind.

"Shrimp? You coming?" Gajeel came back in.

"I'll be there in a minute," I responded. "I need to find my papers, I think that they're in here. Hopefully no blood got on them..."

"Fine, but if you aren't with us in ten minutes, I'm coming looking for ya cause I am _not_ going through that shit again," he frowned at me. "Understand?"

"Yes, I understand," I smiled at him.

"Good," he said gruffly.

Gajeel left me alone after that, and I began to search around for my papers, being careful not to touch any of the blood. I eventually found them. There were a few drops of red on the pages, but it didn't make the words illegible, so it wasn't that bad.

"Ah, here they are," I sighed, stowing them away safely in my new satchel.

I turned around to head for the door, but I couldn't help but stare at the room that I was in. After a few seconds, I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Yesterday, everything was completely normal...there was no sign of danger anywhere and it was just a happy and nice day in general," I said to myself. "But today, we're in some kind of dream world facing off against a monster that sounds like it just wants to love people."

I opened up my eyes halfway and looked off to the side.

"How can things go from good to bad so quickly?" I asked no one. "I can't say that I understand."

After standing there for a few more seconds, I headed for the door to leave the bloodbath that was this room behind.

 _I just hope that Lu-chan and Mirajane are alright._ I thought to myself as I walked.

* * *

 **Lucy POV**

* * *

I was sitting up against the telescope tree, looking at a white dove that had perched itself on my hand. Its small black eyes regarded me curiously, while it ruffled its ivory feathers from time to time.

"Well, hello there little guy," I greeted it with a smile on my face. "I can't say that I've seen too many birds around here, especially not a snow white dove like you."

I rubbed its head with my index finger, and it leaned into my touch.

"But that's probably because I'm always sleeping."

It tweeted to me, sounding like it was trying to talk back to me.

"For some reason I get really tired whenever Lisanna comes back, so she always tells me to sleep," I went on, "and when I wake up, she's always gone and doesn't come back for a while...you wouldn't happen to have any idea where she goes, would you? I'm kind of curious."

The dove tweeted again, and I was pretty sure the bird was trying to communicate with me.

"It's worth a shot," I talked to it. "I mean, there's no harm in asking a simple question to anything, right?"

Before the dove could tweet this time,

"Lucy!"

The dove quickly flew away as soon as it heard my name being called, and I looked to see that Lisanna was coming towards me.

"Hi, Lisanna," I greeted her, getting up from where I was seated.

"Hello, Lucy," she didn't look too happy. "I missed you."

"Is everything okay, Lisanna?" I asked her, the corners of my mouth curving down.

"Hm?" she tilted her head. "Why would you think that something's wrong?"

"Well, it's just that you don't look too happy, and you never do look very happy when you come back to me," I answered. "Do you not like hanging out with me?"

"What?! Oh no, no, no, no!" she shouted, looking shocked to hear that. "I love hanging out with you, Lucy! Why would you ever think that I don't?!"

Lisanna's outburst took me off guard, causing me to step back a bit.

"I just said why I would think that," I answered, looking at her warily.

"Lucy," she had a very serious look on her face as she grabbed both my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes. "I love hanging out with you and I love being around you, so don't you EVER think that I don't, because I do...understand?"

I could have sworn I saw her eyes change color for a second there, but I assumed it was only my imagination.

"Then why do you always look unhappy whenever I see you?"

"Because I...uhhhhh..." she avoided eye contact for a second. "Because I don't like it when I can't spend time with you and that makes me sad!"

"Are you sure that's the reason?" I raised an eyebrow, feeling suspicious.

"Of course I'm sure!" Lisanna smiled at me.

"Alright then..."

She took her hands off of my shoulders and looked at my scarf; she smiled upon seeing that I was still wearing it.

"It's nice to see that you haven't taken off the scarf I gave you," she told me gaily.

"Well, you _did_ tell me to never take it off," I responded. "But why did you tell me that, anyways?"

"Because the scarf is a symbol of our friendship, and if you take it off then that means you don't wanna be my friend anymore," she explained to me, "so you can't take it off because if you do, then we won't be friends anymore and you don't want that, do you?"

"No, I don't," I shook my head. "I'd never want to stop being friends with you or any of the others, Lisanna."

"I'm so glad to hear that," she gave me an eyes-closed smile.

Almost immediately after she had said that, the tired feeling came back to me and I yawned.

"Are you tired?" she opened her eyes.

"Uh-huh," I nodded, "why do I keep getting so sleepy?"

"I don't know," she answered. "But come on."

Lisanna helped me sit back down with my back up against the telescope tree.

"Lisanna?" I asked as the tired feeling grew worse.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are we all going to be friends forever?" I asked her. "Me, you, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy and everyone...will we be friends forever?"

"Of course we will! That's a rather silly question to ask!" she chuckled. "We'll be friends forever and ever and ever and ever."

"I'm glad..." I smiled at her softly.

"I'm glad too Lucy, now sweet dreams," she placed a kiss on my forehead.

I closed my eyes and began to fall into a dreamless sleep. Before I fell asleep however, I could have sworn that I heard her say something else, but the only words I could make out were "time in centuries".

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	18. Chapter 17: A Bond of Trust

**Lisanna POV**

* * *

We went into one of the small houses and rested for a while to recover energy, alongside recover after seeing all that blood.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, before I looked over at Erza who appeared to have calmed down somewhat.

"Are you feeling better, Erza?" I broke the silence, and the redhead looked over to me.

"A bit," she answered, her voice quiet.

"Are you ready to talk about what happened?" I asked her.

"It's alright if you aren't ready," Wendy said quickly. "It looks like it's a very painful thing for you to think about, after all."

"That's because it is. But it'll only wind up hurting more if I keep it bottled up," Erza responded.

"So, does that mean you're gonna tell us?" Natsu asked.

"I am, but for you all to fully understand, I have to start from the beginning," she answered.

"Which is...?"

"Back when we caught up with the other me, when I told you all to go on ahead. I fought with her for a while, but the fight wasn't going anywhere," Erza explained, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "I never intended to badly hurt her, but I put too much power behind one of my attacks, and..."

Erza trailed off, and we all looked at her for a few seconds, expecting her to continue but she didn't.

"You can keep going, Erza," Juvia encouraged her. "Like you said, this will only wind up hurting more if you keep it bottled up."

"I know...so as I was saying, I put too much power behind an attack, and I wound up delivering a deep wound to her chest," Erza continued telling us. "I knew that she was dying, and I tried to give her some sort of comfort before she passed away by cradling her in my arms."

 _I think I know where this is going..._

"She told me a lot before she died, like how her name was Knight, where Yukino was, and about how everyone she loved was gone," she went on. "She died in my arms and turned into a small plushie."

We all stayed silent and didn't interrupt her.

"The feeling wasn't that bad at first, because I thought that she was reunited with her loved ones. That is, until Lisanna and Juvia left me with those four dream people," Erza spoke, her hands tensing in her folded lap. "They were friends of her's, and they had been searching the longest time for her."

I couldn't stop myself from feeling pity when I heard that.

"They asked me if I had seen her and I wound up crying, so they surrounded me in a big group hug to make me feel better. But I started hearing a voice in my head," Erza said, her voice becoming shaky. "It called them fake and wanted to hurt them. I tried to stop it but I blacked out."

"If you blacked out, then how do you know you did it?" Gajeel interrupted. "What if someone else came in while you were unconscious?"

"I know it was me because I could hear everything that was happening. I could hear them crying out in pain whenever I hit them," Erza said, her eyes wide and terrified as she stared into empty air. "I c-could hear them pleading with me to stop, throwing things at me, trying to run away...I heard a lot of things, but I couldn't see or feel anything."

"Dear Mavis..." Levy put a hand over her mouth in shock.

"When I had control over my body again, they were all dead and I could only stare in shock at what I did," Erza continued. "I'm not sure how long I stood there, but it was long enough for you all to find Levy and come to get me."

"...is that it?" I asked after a few seconds.

"Of course it is," she answered. "How could there be anymore?"

"I just wanted to be sure," I responded.

"Erza, you shouldn't feel bad," Natsu tried to reassure her. "They aren't real, so who says that you killed anyone?"

"It doesn't matter if they're real or not, they had lives so they weren't just imaginary people in a dream," she looked at pink haired man. "They were real enough to me and I killed them."

"Erza..."

"I killed five people, and it wasn't like they were monsters in disguise or something or even a dangerous enemy," her dark brown eyes shifted to the floor. "They were just people and I killed them."

None of us knew how to respond to that.

"I'm a murderer!" she shouted, sobs wracking her body.

We all sat there for a while, not knowing what to do until I got an idea. I stood up and walked over to Erza.

"Lisanna?" Gray asked, looking up at me. "What are you doing?"

I sat on my knees in front of Erza to be down at her level, before wrapping my arms around her in a comforting hug.

"What are you doing?" Gajeel asked, repeating the devil slayer's query. "Why are you hugging her?"

"Well, I don't know what to say so why not give her a hug?" I explained my reasoning behind the action. "She without a doubt needs one after what's happened, after all."

"You're right about that," Levy agreed.

Levy came over to Erza and I, getting down on her knees as well and hugging Erza as I did.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to give her a group hug?" Gray asked, clearly not sitting well with our actions. "I mean-"

"Juvia doesn't think that it's a very good idea to bring that up right now, Gray-sama," Juvia interrupted him. Holy shit Juvia just interrupted Gray it's the end of the world-

After saying that, Juvia came over to us and joined in on the hug.

One by one, we all hugged Erza, until Gajeel was the only one who wasn't in the group hug.

"Come on, Gajeel," Levy chided him. "Joining in on the group hug won't kill you."

"It might," he mummbled so Erza wouldn't hear.

"Don't be an asshole," Natsu scowled at him. "Come over here, metal head."

"Nope," he crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Gajeel, if you don't come over here, I'll tell them," Levy threatened.

"You wouldn't."

"Guys! Gajeel said that he-!"

"OKAY OKAY! You've made your point!"

Gajeel came over and very reluctantly joined in on the group hug.

"Does this make you feel any better?" I asked Erza after a few seconds.

"A little bit, but it's better than nothing...so thank you," she told us. "You can let go now."

We let her out of our group hug and stood up.

"It's no problem, Erza," I smiled at her. "We'd do anything for a friend."

"Which is a good thing. Anyways, come on. We've been here long enough," Erza replied. "We have to get moving before Paw comes after us."

"Then let's get going," said Gray.

We left the book town and continued down the mountain path that we had been following earlier. We walked down it until we came to the jagged mouth of a cave.

"Oh, don't tell me it's _another_ maze!" Natsu sounded irritated.

"Alright, we won't tell you. But it's a maze," Gajeel snickered.

"Agh! Dammit!" Natsu shouted, frustrated. "Now we have to go through this one and two more on the way back!"

"Let's just get through this and worry about coming back through later," Erza spoke to him, before walking into the cave.

"We probably have nothing to worry about, though, because chances are we'll remember the way to go," Levy pointed out. "So, it won't take too long to get through the mountains."

"I hope you're right..." Natsu said, frowning.

It took quite a while to get through the maze, with it taking just as long as the first one we went through. But when we finally made it out of the nightmarish twists and turns and dead ends of the maze, the sight on the other side was anything but pleasant.

"How the hell is a place like this a personal paradise?" Gray questioned in disbelief.

The area was a large swamp with mossy, old wooden bridges connecting the spaces of land to each other, the area below dark, murky water. There were old looking trees covered in moss and bugs clustered on the land, and storm clouds blocked out the sun, casting a large shadow over everything.

Jars full of flickering fireflies hung from tree branches, the only shred of light in this moist, dark place. Rain was pouring down from the sky, creating a steady hum as droplets hit the trees. The drowsy buzz of swamp mosquitoes was like an echo of the quiet atmosphere.

"This isn't what it used to look like," Erza said softly, her eyes surveying the area.

"How do you know that?" Levy asked, looking at her.

"Knight did say that her home was a shadow of its former self, and judging by what those four told me, this is Knight's home. It was turned into this by monsters," Titania explained.

"So where do you think that they're being kept, then?" I asked. "Because I don't think Mira, Lucy, or anyone would find this place to be a paradise."

"I'm not sure, but my best guess would be that Paw most likely made a building that could be their personal paradise," Erza guessed. "Just like how she's done for the others."

"What do you mean by that?" Juvia asked, frowning at her.

"Seeing as Wendy and Yukino were both in the same area just in different buildings, it would seem like the buildings are more the personal paradises, and the areas that they're in are just areas," Erza stated. "Except for Levy, seeing as she was able to travel all over the book town by the looks of things."

"Actually, I wasn't. I was only allowed to go to my room in the museum or the reading room to read books with the four of them," Levy corrected. "And I think that you may be right, Erza."

"It does sound like she's right," Juvia agreed. "But then Paw must be paranoid about her victims finding out that this is a dream."

"I probably would be too if I was her," Gray shrugged. "I mean, the second that they found out it was a dream, they would wanna wake up. And Paw obviously doesn't want that to happen."

"Why are we standing around talking about this?" Natsu asked. "Let's go already."

Without waiting for a response, Natsu began to walk down the aged wooden bridge.

"And there he goes again," I couldn't help but sigh. "Going off on his own."

"He's done this sort of thing before?" Wendy looked at me.

"Yup," I confirmed. "But come on, we should follow him."

We began to follow Natsu down the bridge with the only noise being the sound of the rain, the creaking of the bridge, and crickets for a while until we heard something else.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Are you real or are you another fake?"

"Who's that?" Levy whispered so we wouldn't be heard.

"You think that I'm going to answer a question from a fake like you?"

"I'm not fake, I'm real."

"I don't know about that other voice, but the first one sounds really familiar," Natsu didn't whisper.

"Yeah right, and I'm a freaking weakling with no magic."

"It would seem that your appearance is very deceiving, then."

"Burn..." Natsu pointed out, only to get elbowed by Erza. "Ack! What was that for?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Unless your brain is as small as it may seem, then I believe you should know."

"Now isn't the time to be making jokes," Erza scolded the fire wizard. "Now let's go, but everyone stay quiet."

We carefully made our way across the bridge, trying our best to not make it creak as we walked. The further that we went, the more that we saw.

"Why you..." we could see the silhouettes of two people in the fog. "You're gonna regret saying that."

We began to hear what sounded like sparking electricity.

"If you attack me, then I'll be forced to attack you back."

The shadow around the other silhouette grew in size.

I didn't understand what was going on until we reached the end of the wooden bridge and stepped onto a small patch of land, which is when we saw the who they were.

"What the-?" I was confused.

In front of us stood Laxus and Rogue, who appeared to be getting ready to attack each other. They hadn't noticed us yet.

"Shadow/Lightning Dragon's Ro-!" they both yelled in unison.

"Both of you STOP!" Erza barked as she ran in between the two of them.

They both stopped when they saw her. Laxus couldn't help but loudly cough due to having to cancel out his roar at the last second, while Rogue mimicked the blonde's action.

"What the hell? How many fakes are in this damn swamp?" Laxus demanded, noticing us as well.

"I don't know, but we aren't fakes. We're real people," Erza told them.

"And how do we know that you aren't lying?" Rogue narrowed his crimson eyes, suspicious of her.

"I'll tell you something that only someone from the real world would know," Erza looked at Laxus. "You're an S-Class mage from the Fairy Tail guild. You are in a team with Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow, and you're not a real dragon slayer as you just have a lacrima implant."

Erza then turned to look at Rogue.

"And you're from the Sabertooth guild. You have an exceed named Frosch, and you're a shadow dragon slayer who thought to have killed his dragon, later discovering that he was alive."

"Okay, so you are from the real world," Rogue didn't seem to suspect her anymore.

"But just because you guys are real, that doesn't mean that he's real," Laxus was still wary of Rogue.

"Trust me, he's real," Levy stepped in.

"And how do you know that?" Laxus asked, turning his attention to her.

"Because all of the fake we've encountered wore pajamas, and seeing as Rogue isn't in his pajamas and is acting like himself, he's real," Levy explained to him. "So you don't have to fight him."

"If you say so. But I'm watching you," Laxus crossed his arms, glaring back at Rogue.

"How did the two of you get here, though?" Levy asked them. "You obviously aren't victims, and you need a partner for the spell to work."

"No, you don't," Laxus told her. "I was able to get in here just fine by myself."

"But why did you come here?" Wendy spoke up.

"Because I figured that you could use the help. There's no way that I was just going to leave something like this to you all," the exceeds had obviously told Laxus what was going on.

"Speaking of the real world, how's Carla?" Wendy asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's worried about you, but she's fine," Laxus informed the tiny dragon slayer. "Same goes for the other two cats, they're worried but fine."

"What about you, Rogue?" Erza looked at him. "Why are you in here?"

"The day before yesterday, Yukino went home early to sleep because she said she was really tired. The next morning, she wouldn't wake up no matter what we did," Rogue explained to us. "The day after that, Sting passed out while I was talking to him and we decided to get some help from you."

"So does that mean that there are other Sabertooth members here?" Wendy asked.

"No, I'm the only one that's here," Rogue answered. "The others stayed in the real world to take care of our bodies."

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about that?" I asked with a frown. "I mean, it's Happy, Carla and Pantherlily alone with I assume is Minerva, Rufus, Orga, Frosch and Lector."

"Stop worrying, they aren't alone...the Raijinshuu are with them. And besides, they're in Fairy Tail," Laxus reassured me. "They won't stand a chance if they try something."

"I...I guess that's reassuring," I said uncertainly.

"So, what sorts of things have happened?" Rogue asked.

"We'll tell you while we're looking for the victims of the monster," Erza told the dark haired man. "Seeing as we're back to three victims now, we shouldn't waste time."

"Lead the way, then," Rogue said.

Erza started walking down the wooden bridge that led deeper into the swamp and we quickly followed after her, explaining everything to Laxus and Rogue as we went. However, we left out what Erza had done.

* * *

 **To anyone who had doubts about Yukino being real, there. As for why Yukino was called Star, I'd think that it was just a very accidental slip of the tongue by Paw and she just went with it.**

 **Review plz?**


	19. Chapter 18: Risky Matters

**Rogue POV**

* * *

They told us about everything that happened to Laxus and I as we followed them through the swamp. My eyes drifted around absentmindedly as we travelled.

The water cypress was a deep black green, where beneath the tangled swamp trees there was a drowsy gloom. The wind carried the rotten smell of the swamp, and delicate shrill mosquitoes webbed the green millpond. While we walked, all of us were quickly drenched by the rain in no time.

"Okay, so the monster is actually a girl who doesn't have a name, but you call her Paw?" I asked, wanting to be sure.

"Right," Erza confirmed.

"And the scarves that the victims are wearing is what keeps them from waking up?"

"Yes, and it also appears to alter their memories in some cases. Seeing as some of the victims didn't remember us when we encountered them," Lisanna confirmed.

"Then why does Wendy remember you all if she has the scarf on?" Laxus looked at the young girl, causing her to flinch slightly most likely out of intimidation.

"If you get them to realize that this is a dream, or hug them in Wendy's case, then they remember everything," Juvia explained.

"Seriously? Wendy remembered everything just by getting hugged?" Laxus looked at Wendy again.

"As weird as it sounds, it actually worked," Natsu told him.

"I think that it had something to do with the power of love," Lisanna piqued up.

A thought popped into my head of Natsu being in love with Wendy, but I quickly and discreetly shook my head to dismiss the thought.

 _No...they can't have that sort of relationship, she is much younger than he is._ I thought to myself. _They must have a brother-sister relationship._

We continued walking through the swamp, trying to remember the way that we entered the swamp. We walked along the maze of wooden bridges, until we came across a large patch of land where a large manor looking building was built. Ivy and ferns grew through the crevices of an old winding stone path, which led directly to the colossal structure. The mansion loomed proudly, flanked by rows of skeletal trees crowned in myrtle green, swaying gently to the chilly wind. At its threshold stood the delicate marble fountain, the soft gurgling of the clear water melodic as it resonated in the surrounding silence. But that's not what caught my eye.

There was an umbrella wielding figure facing away from us, standing at a fountain that sat in front of the manor. The umbrella was a dark purple in color, and cast a shadow over the person, obscuring their appearance from view.

"This has to be where-" Levy didn't appear to notice the figure.

"Shh," I shushed her.

"Why did you-?"

"Shh!" I silenced her again, before pointing ahead at the person. They looked, spotting the man as well.

"What the- How did I not see him?" Levy was surprised.

"How did _any_ of us not see him?" Lisanna seemed startled as well.

"I don't know, but be quiet," I commanded, keeping my voice low.

I began to sneak up on them, planning to capture them and hopefully get some information out of them. But just when I was about to reach out and capture the figure–

"You don't have to sneak up on me," they spoke up. "I already know that you are here."

I stopped in my tracks, mildly impressed by this person's detection skills.

"Hold on...that voice," Laxus mumbled, seeming to recognize them. He raised his voice before speaking again. "Is that you, Freed?"

The figure turned around to face us, revealing themselves to be a man with vivid green hair, and was dressed up in pajamas. His eyes bore into us, a dull shade of blue.

"I am not the Freed that you know. I am known as Rune," he told us. "Please refer to me by the name that I have given you."

"Alright, Rune," Gray agreed, calling him by the name he was given. "What are you doing standing out here in the rain?"

"I could ask you the same question, but I won't," Rune replied to the ice mage. "I have been waiting for you...for _all_ of you."

"Why?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. "Are you planning to stop us?"

"If you are, then don't expect to win," Laxus said determinedly, cracking his knuckles.

"Please calm yourself, I am not here to fight you," he replied coolly. "I am merely here to ask you a question."

"What's the catch?" Natsu said suspiciously, clearly untrusting of the man.

"If you are able to answer my question correctly, then I will allow you entrance into the manor. But if you fail to answer right to my question, then you will remain outside," Rune explained.

"What's stopping us from walking past you?" I asked him.

"Though I am not here to fight you, it doesn't mean that I don't possess the means to face you in battle," he answered. "If you try to pass by me without answering my question correctly, then I will be forced to attack."

"Oh please...it's you versus all of us," Laxus said, clearly doubting his abilities. "What can you do to us?"

"Would you care for a demonstration of my abilities?" Rune looked at him, tilting his head.

Without waiting for a response, Rune pointed at Laxus with his free hand, causing a purple magic circle to appear underneath his feet.

"Rule breaker."

Thorned vines as thick as chains appeared and wrapped tightly around the lighting mage's body. They without a doubt pierced the skin, judging by how tightly they were squeezing him.

"I can make them even tighter than they are now, but if I do then you will be crushed," Rune spoke with a darker tone to his voice. "You don't want that now, do you?"

"You son of a-"

"It's a very simple question. Just answer yes or no," Rune wasn't phased in the slightest.

"No..." he growled.

Rune lowered his hand and the vines disappeared, freeing Laxus.

"Was that really necessary?" Wendy asked as she walked over to him, most likely planning to heal him.

"Maybe not to you, but it was to me," Rune answered.

"Necessary my ass..." Laxus grumbled, waving her off which got her to leave him alone. "Ask your damn question already."

"I love but I hurt, I entertain but I trap, I hide but I watch," Rune recited a riddle. "What am I?"

"Easy," Natsu spoke up immediately. "You're Rune."

"That is not what I meant, but I believe that I am allowed to give you another try if you don't understand," that relieved me. "I meant, what am I describing?"

I went back over to the others and we began to discuss what we thought the answer was.

"Take your time," he was patient with us. "You should not rush this decision."

We continued to discuss it, before I remembered what the others had told me about the creature. I departed from the group and walked over to Rune.

"What the-?" Gray was the first to notice my leaving. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Is the answer Paw?" I asked.

"Paw?" he rose an eyebrow. "I can't say that I know who that is...could you be more specific?"

"I'm talking about the PawPrinted Dream Dweller," I used its full name.

"Oh...do you mean my Master?" I nodded in reply. "That is the correct answer."

"Seriously?" Natsu was surprised, before grinning widely. "Alright, go Rogue!"

I ignored him, keeping my gaze on Rune. In return, he stared back at me with his cold, calculating eyes.

"So, you'll let us in now, right?" Erza asked.

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you entrance into the manor," Rune answered flatly.

"What?! But you said-!" Gajeel protested.

"I am well aware of what I said, so you don't need to repeat it," he interrupted. "I am simply not authorized to allow you entrance into the manor."

"Then why did you say that you were going to let us in?" Juvia questioned.

"Because I can point you in the direction of someone who will unlock the door for you and let you inside," he replied. "In the tower is a man known as Beast. He has a key that can allow you entry into the manor."

Rune pointed at a nearby tower, which sat in the swampy water with a small bridge leading to it.

"Beast can be quite stubborn, so it'll take some convincing to get him to relinquish the key to you," he continued. "I'd recommend trying to trick him, as he isn't that smart."

"Thanks for nothing," Gajeel grumbled.

Rune didn't respond, instead turned away to continue staring at his reflection in the fountain's water.

"I wouldn't say thanks for nothing, Gajeel," Levy looked at him. "He told us how to get into the manor."

"Yeah, but he lied right to our faces," the iron dragon slayer said with a frown.

"There's no use arguing about it," I walked over to them. "We know how to get inside now, so we shouldn't waste time."

I didn't wait for a response as I headed for the tower.

"Please don't tell me that there's another person in our group who wanders off on their own," Lisanna sighed. Everyone glanced at the fire dragon slayer at her words.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Natsu asked.

"I have a hard time believing that you're _this_ dense sometimes, Natsu," she sighed.

I opened the door to the tower, which was unlocked, before stepped inside. The others soon came after me, walking up the winding stairs to the top of the building, which was styled in the manner of a bedroom. It was simple, with a bed and closet and such, and a window in the wall. A white-haired man in his pajamas stood by the window, gazing out of it.

"Hey, Rune!" he was calling down to Rune. "It's not often that I see you around!"

"Excuse me," I got his attention.

He quickly swiveled around to face us. Judging by his expression, he wasn't happy to see us.

"What the– Who are you guys?! How did you get in here?!" he yelled, getting into a fighting stance.

"I'm guessing that you're Beast," Gray assumed. "I'm not surprised that you look like Elfman."

"Huh? How did you know my name?" that confused him. "And who the heck is Elfman?"

"That isn't important right now," Lisanna avoided his question. "What's really important is that we're on a mission from Master."

"Master? It must be very important if she sent all of you," Beast looked surprised. "What does she need you to do?"

"She wants to up the secruity inside of the manor for when those people get here, so she sent all of us to do so," Erza lied. When Beast turned to her, his eyes lit up with joy.

"Holy crap! Knight, is that you?!" he looked ecstatic. "Man! You have no idea how much we've missed you! How've you been? Where have you been?"

"Ummm..." that question seemed to make her uncomfortable.

"Wait! Don't tell me! Tell me all about it once you guys are done with your mission!" he smiled. "Here's the key to the front door by the way! Catch!"

He tossed a brass key to us, which Natsu easily caught in his hands.

"Nice catch, Dragon!" Beast praised. "Now go on, you shouldn't waste any more time. Those guys could show up at any second!"

"Thanks," Lisanna thanked him.

"No problem," he responded with a smile. "Just remember to lock the door behind you."

We headed back down the stairs and out of the tower, only to find that Rune was gone. But it didn't bother us as we headed over to the building's entrance.

Natsu unlocked the door with the key, before swinging it open. We then made our way into the manor, no idea what lay in store for us inside.

* * *

 **Nobody POV**

* * *

Mere moments after they had headed into the mansion, Beast was gazing out the window of his tower at the manor with a gleeful expression.

"Knight's alive, I can't believe that Knight's alive!" he babbled on. "Oh my Master! This is probably the greatest day of my life! It's gonna be his best day ever too when I tell him!"

"Tell who?"

Beast looked over his shoulder to see that Dragon had appeared in the room.

"Oh, hey Dragon!" Beast greeted him. "What are you doing in here? I thought you were supposed to be in the manor."

"Why would I be in the manor?" Dragon frowned, clearly confused.

"Well, didn't Master order you and a big group to go inside of the manor?" Beast asked. "That way when the enemy shows up, the secruity is impossible to get by."

"Even though that sounds like a good idea, Master didn't tell me or anyone else to do that," he confirmed.

"Then who the heck did I let into the manor just now?"

Dragon thought about it for a few seconds before growling.

"You idiot!"

He rushed over to Beast and smacked him with his stuffed dragon, but he put more force than he realized behind the hit, and Beast was knocked out of the window. He fell for a bit, before landing on the wooden bridge below with a sickening _crack_.

Dragon took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before the realization of what he had done came to him.

"Oh shit! Beast!" he exclaimed, horrified.

Dragon stuck his head out of the tower window and stared down at the unmoving body of Beast on the ground.

"Beast! Say something if you can hear me!" he yelled down.

But Beast didn't respond, and instead began to fade away, leaving behind a plush version of himself which was quickly soaked by the rain.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" Dragon began to panic as he pulled his head back inside of the tower. "Master is not going to be happy about this in the slightest! I am in so much trouble!"

He began to pace around the room before sticking his head out of the window, only to see that there was someone crouched down, holding Beast's plush form in his hand.

"Oh no..." Dragon paled, fear churning in his stomach. "I am _so_ screwed..."

The person, having heard him, quickly looked up, causing Dragon to retract his head into the tower.

"He saw me he saw me he saw me!" he yelped. "He's gonna beat me until I'm nothing but a plushie!"

Dragon could hear the person throw open the door to the tower and begin to race up the stairs towards him.

"Wait, Meteor! No!" he tried to call to the person. "It...it wasn't me!"

That didn't stop the person now identified as Meteor, who ran into the room with an enraged look on his face.

"You...you're not in the form of someone from the real world, Meteor," Dragon gulped, while backing up to get as far away as he could from the person.

"I already told you, I'm not being apart of this...the dreamers should love us for who we really are, not for who we take the form of," he growled. "And don't call me by that stupid codename...my name is Primrose."

Primrose was a young man with straight white hair, and multi-colored primrose petals stuck in his hair. He had scruffy white hairs on his face, like a beard, and angry, neon yellow eyes. He wore grass green pajamas that had pale yellow primroses printed on it.

"Master will hear about this, Primrose!" Dragon's back hit the wall. "We're all supposed to be in disguise! You're gonna be in trouble!"

"She won't hear a thing if you can't get back to her, _Sunflower_ ," he spoke using Dragon's real name.

Primrose ran at Dragon, planning to attack him.

"Eep!"

He quickly teleported out of there, causing Primrose to stop in his tracks with an angry look on his face.

"Dammit...that onesie-wearing pansy escaped..." Primrose growled, clenching his fists. "He won't get away with this."

Primrose began to descend the stairs of the tower.

"I'll find him and make him pay," he snarled. "There was no way in hell that Gladiolus deserved to die."

Primrose left the tower, quickly becoming drenched by rain. Beast's plushie was no longer on the wooden bridge, but he didn't pay it any mind.

"I'll find him even if I have to spend hours upon hours searching for him," Primrose determined.

He walked over to the manor and headed inside, planning to search for Dragon in there. But unbeknownst to him, the people that were supposed to be his enemies were already inside of the building.

* * *

 **PawPrinted-Writer: Before you ask...yes, all of the dream people are indeed named after flowers.**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PAWPRINTED-WRITER! And I'm excited for the upcoming chapters! I wonder what PawPrinted has in store~**


	20. Chapter 19: Castle of Sorrow

**Laxus POV**

* * *

We walked through the eerily quiet halls of the castle, with the only sound being that of the rain outside and our steps against the rugs that were laid out.

"So does anyone have any idea who's in this place?" I broke the silence.

"No," Gray responded. "There's no real clue, unless you're Levy with the whole village-made-out-of-books thing."

"So for all we know there could be nobody in here?" I frowned.

"Yeah, but there's no way that nobody isn't in here," Natsu doubted it. "I mean, look at this place. Why would a castle this nice be in a place like this?"

"I don't know, but-"

"Exactly! You don't know!" Natsu interrupted me. "So be quiet and let's keep looking!"

I growled and moved to stand behind Natsu so I could smack him in the back of his head.

"Ack!" he was surprised, before becoming angry and looking back at me. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"Don't interrupt me, asshole," I glared at him.

"Well don't hit me for no reason!" he glared back at me.

"Both of you shut up," Erza commanded. "This isn't the place to fight each other, especially not when it's this quiet in here."

"What does it being quiet have to do with anything?" I asked, looking over at her as Natsu grumbled some unflattering things under his breath.

"Because with no sound, it'll be easier for Paw to hear us. Especially if we start getting loud," she explained to me. "So everyone be quiet unless you want her to find out that we're here, got it?"

The others nodded, and we kept walking through the halls before coming across a split in the path. One of the paths diverted to a hallway on the right, the other going to the left.

"Well, great...which way do we go now?" Gajeel crossed his arms.

"Why don't we split up?" Wendy suggested.

"But who goes down which hallway?"

"I think that me, Erza, Gajeel, Gray and Laxus should go down the left hallway, while Natsu, Wendy, Juvia, Levy and Rogue go down the right hallway," Lisanna suggested. "How does that sound?"

It didn't seem like any of us had a particular problem with it, so we split up and walked down the two hallways. The hallway we walked down looked normal, being decorated with painted portraits that looked like they belonged on a magazine cover instead of in a painting.

"Damn, whoever painted this stuff was horrible at it," I frowned as we passed yet another distorted painting. "You can't even tell what's in the picture, it's so blurry."

"It doesn't look _that_ bad," Lisanna disagreed. "I mean, it just looks like the painting got wet or something."

"It looks more like someone sucks at painting..." Gajeel mumbled.

"Whatever you say," she shrugged her shoulders.

We kept walking down the hallway until we came to a throne room that didn't have anybody in it. A throne sat at the end of the room, looking important. The chair was carved of a fine oak, crested with several jewels and decorative metals forming an elegant coat of arms. We looked around the room, only for our eyes to land on the other group who had just entered into the room.

"Seriously? Both of those hallways led to the same place?" Gray frowned.

They looked over us when they heard the devil slayer talk.

"A castle that has two different hallways leading to the throne room?" Rogue was the first to talk. "That's a strange design choice."

"At least we're finally out of that hallway," Wendy seemed relieved. "That hallway was so creepy."

"What was the matter with it?" I frowned, looking at her.

"Wasn't the hallway that you went down the same?" Juvia didn't answer my question.

"No, we just got crappy paintings hanging on the wall," Gajeel answered. "What made your hallway so creepy?"

"The hallway got weird pretty fast, because the entire hallway was a mess with what I hope was black paint splattered all over the walls and floor. There were paintings hung on the walls and they would have looked pretty decent if it wasn't for the claw marks in them," Levy told us. "There were some claw marks in the walls, too."

"That sounds more weird, but I guess I can see how it was creepy," Gray commented.

I started to stop listening to what the others were saying as I let myself get lost in my thoughts, but it wasn't long before I started thinking about the two hallways.

 _One is clean and normal looking, while the other one is all messed up and weird._ I thought with a frown. _Why the hell does that sound familiar?_

I thought about it for a while before I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of somebody loudly clearing their throat.

 _Screw it, I'll figure it out later._ I cursed internally.

I looked to where the sound came from, only to see another me dressed in black pajamas with cartoon lightning bolts printed on it. He was seated on the throne, staring at us with annoyed eyes.

"What the-?" Lisanna sounded surprised. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Oh, so you finally notice me?" he feigned surprise. "Well, color me flattered! How polite for some commoners to notice the king."

"You're welcome," Natsu was too dense to notice he was using sarcasm.

"Wha- Are you really-" he had a look of surprise on his face. "Are you seriously that stupid?!"

"Hey! Don't call me stupid!" Natsu sounded offended.

"If anything, he's dense," Gray spoke up.

"Yeah!" it took him a few seconds to process this. "Hey!"

"Okay, before a fight breaks out in the throne room, everyone shut up and listen to me," my doppelgänger commanded.

"Why should we?" Gajeel asked, narrowing his eyes at him. "You're only going to tell us to go home."

"Don't jump to conclusions, you moron," he answered. "For all you know I could be planning to tell you some very useful information."

"Alright...tell us then," Rogue was willing to give him a chance.

"Listen, I don't exactly approve of what Master is doing, just like most people in this swamp," he told us.

"So, are you gonna tell us where whoever is in this place?" Lisanna asked hopefully.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I can let you pass without a fight," we spoke loudly while shaking his head at us.

He made a shushing motion by putting his finger over his lips, before quietly getting up from his throne and walking towards us.

"We have to be quiet...Master has really good hearing," he whispered. "The dreamer of this place is in the room that's behind the throne, but we have to make it look like a fight went down here."

"Why?" Wendy asked, her face showing confusion.

"Because if it looks like a struggle didn't happen, then Master will think that I betrayed her," he whispered.

"So she'll punish you, right?" Levy guessed.

"Yeah, even though her punishments are pretty stupid when we haven't been able to do anything other than protect the dreamers or watch after the dreamers," he continued in the same low voice. "It's so boring that even her punishments start to feel like literal torture."

"What do we do, then?" Natsu asked.

"You go and save the dreamer," he explained. "I'll stay out here and take care of everything."

"But you said we-"

"Right, I did, but now I'm saying that I'll take care of this on my own," he claimed, before pointing at the throne. "So get going already."

"Are you su-?" Wendy tried to ask.

"I/He already said that I/he could handle it," he and I said in unison while looking at Wendy.

We looked at each other, and he grinned.

"Great minds think alike, huh?"

"Looks like it," I answered.

"Anyways, would you guys just go already?" he asked. "The longer that we stay out here talking, the more of a chance that Master has of hearing us so be quiet and get moving, got it?"

We nodded and walked past him, never noticing that he put both of his hands up to his head. We checked behind the throne and found a closed door behind it.

We opened the door and headed inside to find a very regal looking room. At the other side of the room was Mirajane, sitting down on a couch with another Lisanna drinking tea and talking.

"Well, would you look at this. We have company," the other Lisanna who I assumed was Paw noticed us. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to come in without knocking?"

Mirajane looked over at us and smiled, giving us a friendly wave.

"Oh, hello everyone," she was wearing a scarf, so we knew that she was the real Mirajane. "This is quite a nice dream, don't you think?"

"This isn't real life, this is a-" Lisanna tried to say, before stopping. "Wait...did you just say that this was a dream?"

"Of course I did," the demoness answered.

"So let me get this straight...you know that this is a dream and you haven't been trying to get away?" Gray was confused just like the rest of us.

"Because she likes it here, so you can just-" Paw tried to rub it in our faces.

"I can speak for myself, Paw," Mirajane's smile disappeared from her face as she looked at her. "So could you let me talk?"

"Sorry for interrupting, go right ahead," the monster apologized.

Mirajane smiled and gave her a forgiving pat on the head before looking over at us.

"To answer your question, I assumed that I would wake up soon enough so I didn't try to escape," she explained. "I _will_ wake up sooner or later, right?"

"No, you're trapped in your dreams by her," I pointed at Paw. "As long as you're wearing that scarf, then you aren't going to wake up."

"I'm trapped just like Wendy and Lucy?" Mirajane asked.

"You aren't trapped, I would never trap you!" Paw tried to tell her only for Mirajane to give her a look. "Sorry."

"More like Lucy, because we saved Wendy already," Natsu told her. "But yeah, you're still trapped."

"Oh...how long have I been asleep?" she asked with a frown.

"Hours," Levy answered.

"Hours?" she was surprised. "It is time to wake up, then."

She set down her cup on the table in front of her, and got up from where she was sitting to walk towards us.

"H-hey! Where are you going?" Paw sounded surprised. "Don't you want to stay here and continue our conversation?"

Mirajane stopped halfway and turned to look back at Paw.

"I would like to, but I've been asleep for far too long," she answered. "I need to wake up."

"No, you don't," Paw tried convince the barmaid. "You can stay here forever, and never have to wake up ever again."

"That's not how things work, Paw," Mirajane shook her head.

"But here, it can be how it works," she claimed. "Anything is possible here and that's what makes it so much better than the real world."

"It's not better than the real world when this place is nothing but a big fake," I told her.

"Don't be an idiot, this place is just as real as any of us and none of it is fake!" Paw's eyes turned vivid turquoise, her teeth became sharp, and parts of her body darkening.

"She does have a point," Rogue pointed out. "She's most likely been here since she was born, so this world is reality to her."

"Even if it is to you, it isn't to me," Mirajane tried to tell her. "This is just a dream."

"It might be a dream but that doesn't mean that it isn't real!" Paw retorted.

"Paw, I'm leaving and that's final," Mirajane got a serious look on her face. "No if's and's or but's about it."

Paw sputtered for a few moments, as she didn't know what to say before her eyes shifted into a glare.

"If you're leaving me, then I have no other choice. You aren't my friend anymore so I have to make sure that you can't take away anymore of my friends," she spat.

"And how are you going to do that?" I asked, skeptical. "If you try to fight us then you won't stand a snowball's chance in hell."

"Who said anything about fighting?" she asked before things began to shake. "It's a shame though, this place was really the last beautiful thing in this swamp."

"You're going to collapse it?" Mirajane seemed shocked.

"There's no other choice. I could have actually saved you or even kept this place standing if you weren't a problem now," Paw said with disappointment. "And problems need to be taken care of, so I hope that you understand."

She gave us a small smile before waving at us.

"Sayonara," she bid goodbye before disappearing.

"Is she seriously going to bring down this entire place just to get rid of us?" Mirajane looked back at us.

"That's what she usually does, but we need to get out of here," Lisanna responded. "We'll talk later."

"Right," Mirajane nodded.

We headed out of the room and I noticed that the other me was nothing more than a plushie on the floor where he once stood.

 _Geez._ I had a feeling about what had happened. He most likely committed suicide to make it look like he was defeated.

We ran down the hallway that the others had entered in the throne room from. But when we were halfway through the hallway, I heard the sound of crumbling behind us so I looked to see Erza falling down a hole.

"Hey!"

I stopped and tried to grab her, but my hand just barely missed her and she fell down into a basement. The others heard me shout and looked back.

"Erza!"

"I'm fine!" she yelled over the rumbling. "You need to keep going!"

"Erza, you can't be serious!" Natsu called down to her. "You can't expect us to just leave you down there when this place could collapse at any second, do you?"

"I'll be alright, I just have to find a way out through the basement!" she called up to us. "Now go! The longer that we stand around talking, the less time that we have to escape!"

"But Erza-!"

"GO! I'LL MEET YOU OUTSIDE!" she yelled before we heard the sound of her running off.

"She's right, we can't stand around here," Levy said remorsefully. "This place is going to collapse."

"We know that shrimp," Gajeel looked at her. "Erza's gonna be crushed to death, though."

"We can't worry about her right now, we have to trust what she says," Rogue said calmly. "So unless you want to be crushed by falling rubble, I suggest that we continue running."

It took a few seconds before everyone started running towards the exit as fast as they possibly could, leaving Erza to find a way out on her own down in the basement.

* * *

 **This will be the last chapter for a while until I finish twenty more, assuming that this story has twenty chapters for me to write then I'll just write however many more are left but anyways.**

 **Review plz?**


	21. Chapter 20: Flowers Underground

**Erza POV**

* * *

I run as fast as I possibly can through the apothic basement, searching for a way out while dodging falling rubble and stumbling slightly whenever I wasn't able to notice something in time.

 _There has to be a way out of here._ _This place can't go on forever._

The basement is like a giant maze with there being multiple pathways that I can run down, but all of them just seem to whisk me further and further into the labyrinth. Left, right, forward, right, and so forth. The light has dwindled to a barely perceptible lightening of the gloom. Each wall of stone is identical to the next without an identifying marker of any kind, making it impossible to tell if I am making progress.

 _Who designs a basement like this, anyways?_ _The only usefulness a place like this could have is to trap people._

I continue running for my life, until a falling chunk of stone obstructs the path ahead, causing me to skid to a stop.

"Agh!"

Whipping around to go the other way, I only get about twenty feet before falling rubble blocks that path as well, sealing me in the basement. I'm trapped here like a fox in a snare, no hope of escape and doom quickly approaching.

I attempt to break through both walls to continue looking for a way out, but no matter how hard I try, I can't make a dent in them as they are far too thick.

"Oh my..."

My eyes widen as I back away until my back hits the wall of rubble behind me, which is when I slide down to sit on the aligid floor.

 _I'm...I'm going to...I'm_ _going to die down here..._

The shaking of the building gets worse with every passing second, but it refuses to fully collapse. It's like the building itself is fighting against its own demise.

 _I'm going to be crushed to death underneath this rubble._ It is a slow thought that creeps like a cold worm through all my brain.

 _I'm...I'm..._

The thought of dying in a place like this causes me to hyperventilate out of fear. I can feel it, building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of my stomach. I cannot concentrate on anything else that I was doing. The next step is my heart starting to beat harder and faster, adrenaline levels rising, my heart trying to crawl up inside my body and my brain starts to fire out negative thoughts like a machine gun.

As sweat starts to happen all over my body, it feels like my skin has a hot suit on the outside. Like a bin bag, it moves over my body and never releases. The negative thoughts keep coming like waves on rocks. The thoughts in my head get so fast and so disturbing that my brain shuts down my body. The sweat has completely covered my body and my heart feels like it's going to explode.

I am so disoriented that I'm unable to notice when a hole opens up in the ceiling and someone drops down.

"Hey! Are you alright?"

I glance up to see that it's a man with silky white hair dressed in his pajamas, standing there looking at me with neon yellow eyes. I swiftly jump to my feet and prepare for a fight by unsheathing my sword.

"Stay back!" I command between shallow breaths.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he puts his hands up in surrender. "Now just calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you."

He inches towards me cautiously, but I don't attack him. He grabs the blade of my sword and gently slips it out of my hands to hold it in his own.

"Listen, I need you to do something for me. Do what I do, okay? This will make you feel a lot better."

I don't respond, but he seems to take my silence as a yes as he takes a deep and steady breath.

"Breathe in...breathe out...you got that? Breathe in...breathe out..."

I copy him, until I manage to calm down to an extent.

"There we go...everything is going to be alright," he reassures me.

"Who are you and why are you helping me? Shouldn't you be trying to kill me?"

"My name is Primrose, and I'm helping you because I have no reason to hurt you," he answers. "You're in the dream world, so naturally I should consider you a dreamer instead of some kind of enemy."

"So you're like the Laxus in the throne room?"

"Who?" his face twists to an expression of confusion. "Are you talking about Goldenrod?"

"Maybe. Did this Goldenrod person take the form of a man with a lightning-shaped scar over his right eye?"

"Yeah, that's him," he confirms. "But I am like him, I don't agree with what Master is doing...it's why I'm in my true form instead of in a disguise. Dreamers should love us for who we are, not who we pretend to be."

"I see."

"Anyways, come on," he hands me back my sword. "Let's get you out of this place."

"How are we going to get out though?" I ask, sheathing my weapon. "The path is-"

While I'm talking, Primrose walks towards the wall. He pulls his fist back and delivers a powerful punch to the stone, which immediately shatters it and clears the way.

"Sorry...what was that you were saying? I had to focus so I blocked out my surroundings."

"Never mind."

"If you say so," he shrugs. "Now come on already, this place won't stay standing forever."

I begin to follow Primrose through the basement. He looks like he knows exactly where he's going as he leads me through the twists and turns of the paths.

"How are you so calm at a time like this?" I ask him after a few moments of running. "Shouldn't you be at least be a _little_ concerned? This place is collapsing around us as we speak."

"I know it is, but compared to all the stuff that I've gone through in the past, this is nothing. Now can you be quiet? I need to concentrate on the path."

I go silent, staring at the back of Primrose's head as I follow him through the seemingly never-ending halls. However, our journey comes to an abrupt halt when Primrose stops in his tracks, causing me to almost walk into him.

"What's the matter, why did you stop?"

"See for yourself."

Moving to stand beside him, I spot a gigantic gap in the path that is far too wide to jump over. Looking down the hole, I can see nothing but utter darkness.

"That's a long way down..." I comment, eying the pit with unease. It is darker than a funeral scarf, and seems to have no bottom.

"More like a never-ending way down."

"What do you mean by that? What's down there?"

"What we're seeing is a void hole, aka a glimpse into what the world used to look like," he explains to me. "Whenever things like this happen, it's not uncommon for at least one of these to open up."

"So if we fall in, then we'll be falling forever?"

"Pretty much," he replies, not seeming phased by this in the slightest.

"Then how are we going to get across?"

He is silent for a few moments before looking at me with those bright colored eyes of his.

"Do you trust me?"

I frown, unsure how to answer that.

"I need an answer," he tells me. "Do you trust me?"

"...Sure," I delay my response. "Why?"

"Because of this," he quickly sweeps me off my feet and holds me in his arms. "Now hold on tight! We're gonna jump!"

Primrose turns around and starts backing up to get a running start.

"Wh-what?! Are you _crazy_?!"

He doesn't respond, just holds me tighter so he won't drop me as he turns around and starts rushing towards the hole as fast as he possibly can.

"That's too big of aaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

He jumps at the edge of the chasm, as agile as a leopard. It feels like we're moving for years before Primrose lands on the other side with a grunt, his bare feet sluing along the stone floor.

 _We...we actually made it?_

He gazes down at me with a smirk on his face.

"You were saying?"

"Okay, I admit," I relent. "You were right. But you could've at least told me you were going to do that."

"I could have, but I didn't see any reason to."

Primrose keeps going after that, but he doesn't put me down, instead continuing to hold me.

"Uh...Primrose?"

"What is it?"

"You can put me down now. I'm more than capable of walking on my own."

"Oh," he seems to realize that he's still carrying me, and stops to let me down. "Sorry about that, Zephyr."

"It's fi..." It takes me a second to realize what he has said. "Did you just call me 'Zephyr'?"

His face turns grim as he avoids eye contact with me.

"Why did you call me that?"

"It's nothing..." he brushes my question off. "Let's keep moving..."

He turns away from me and keeps running, with me following closely behind him. I decide not to question him any further on the topic, as it appears to make him uncomfortable.

"Hey...listen, I..."

Primrose cuts himself off with a sigh, sounding like he doesn't know how to talk to me.

"What is it?"

"I know what happened to Zephyr...I know what you did to her."

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"You probably don't know her by her real name, but she was the wielder of a plush sword," he tells me. "I _know_ you came across someone like that."

"I did. She said that her name was Knight."

"Well, her real name is Zephyranthes. I called her Zephyr, though. And...I know that you killed her."

"What? How do yo-"

"I can sense her presence within you," he says softly. "She died in your arms, didn't she?"

The memory of what I had done drifts back into my head, and I bite my lip to prevent the flow of tears.

"Mmhm..."

"Listen, I know that it was some kind of accident...if you intended to kill her, then you wouldn't have held her in your arms like you did. But can you at least tell me what caused you to fight her?"

I stop biting my lip and take a deep breath before speaking.

"Of course...my friend got too close to her and she attacked him, but luckily she missed. She tried to attack again, but I got in between them. The others went on ahead and we fought, but I accidentally put too much force behind one of my attacks. It made a deep wound across her chest, and she fell to the ground..."

"Did she turn into a plush version of herself?"

"Yes, she did."

"Then that's it..." I can hear the grief in his voice. "She's really gone this time..."

I frown and place a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, but he just shrugs it off.

"You don't have to do that...I'm fine..."

I don't do anything before we come across an ending to the hallway, with a ladder leading up.

"Ladies first," he steps aside with his eyes being shadowed by his hair.

I climb up the ladder, going through a trapdoor in the floor of the room where Mirajane had been.

 _This_ _was_ _certainly_ _well_ _hidden._ I think as Primrose comes up the ladder. _I_ _didn't_ _even_ _notice it before._

When Primrose is standing in the room with me, he does not say anything to me as he leads me into the throne room. Walking forwards, we are halfway across the room when Primrose stops.

"I don't blame you for this, you know..."

"What?"

"Zephyr's death, I don't blame you."

"You don't?" I wasn't sure with how he had shrugged off my hand like that.

"Yeah...I can't be mad at you when it was an accident," he continues to face away from me. "Besides, I'm not even mad. I'm just...sad."

"Were you two close?"

"Very...but I never even got to say goodbye..."

"I...I'm so sorry."

Before Primrose can respond, the building around us starts to concuss heavily as much larger pieces of rubble fall around us.

"Shit! This place is finally coming down!" Primrose hisses.

"We need to go then!" I try to run past him, only for him to grab my arm. "Huh? What are you-"

"Paw's coming, I can sense her," he tells me. "If we go that way then she's going to capture us."

"Then you have to teleport us out of here."

"I can't."

"What? Why not?"

"I had my powers taken away a long time ago. And besides, even if I did still have them, I'm not strong enough to teleport two people," he explains to me. "I focused on strength and sensory training instead of getting my powers stronger."

"Then how are we supposed to get out? There are no windows in here and the only way out is to go through Paw or back into the basement."

"There is one way. _You_ have to teleport," he answers seriously.

"What?! I can't teleport! I'm not one of you, remember?!"

"You might not be, but Zephyr is."

"Huh?"

"Her soul is inside of you, so you could tap into her abilities if you concentrate," he says to me. "You have to trust me on this, or you'll be doomed."

"But what about you?"

"If I'm lucky then I'll be teleported alongside you, but you can't think about that right now."

He lets go of my arm and moveS to stand in front of me. Gripping my shoulders, he stares directly into my eyes.

"Concentrate as hard as you possibly can, alright?" he instructs. "Center in on the place where you want to be right now."

I start concentrating just as Primrose tells me to do. I'm thinking about the outside where everyone is waiting for me, but it is after a few moments of thinking when I can feel my head start to hurt just like back in the book town.

 _Teleport! Transport! Travel!_ _Uhhh..._

It is while I was trying to think of words is when two shadowy arms around Primrose from behind, ripping him away from me.

"I found you~!"

"Primrose!" I exclaim, about to summon my sword.

"No! Don't let anything break your concentration!" he struggles against Paw's hold, but he can't get free. "Close your eyes and go already!"

"But-"

"GO, NOW!"

I shut my eyes tightly and when I reopen them, I find myself falling from a height similar to the one I fell from when first appearing here.

I can see the building collapsing and I can see my friends digging through the collapsed rubble of the building as well, but they don't notice me. I stare at the ground for a few seconds, before shutting my eyes.

"Primrose will be alright, I'll be alright, my friends will be alright, the victims will be alright..." I try to reassure myself as I get closer and closer to the ground with every passing second. "Everything will be alright..."

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): I know that was a bad place to end it and this chapter was probably pretty crappy with how long it took for the building to finally collapse and probably other things but I'm sorry, ok? Anyways...**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Guess who's back, back~ Back again~**


	22. Chapter 21: Souls in the Rain

**Mirajane POV**

* * *

Waiting outside of the building with the others, I stare at the entrance in hopes that Erza will come bolting out of there at any second.

 _Come on, Erza...hurry..._

I continue staring at the entrance for what feels like hours before the building finally buckles, collapsing like a concertina. It soon becomes nothing more than a substantial pile of rubble and debris on the ground.

"ERZA!" Natsu roars.

The reckless slayer dashes toward the rubble, with some others quickly following after him while the rest of us stay frozen in place. They begin to dig through the rubble, hoping that Erza wasn't crushed and instead only trapped.

"Erza, hang on!" Gray yells. "We're coming!"

"Don't die! Stay away from the light!" My younger sister adds.

They keep dredging through the remains while I stand there in shock, my hand hovering over my mouth.

"Oh my..." I whisper, blinding tears welling in my eyes. Slow, desolate beads of sadness run from my unblinking eyes and drip steadily into my shirt as I start to cry.

I stand there for a few moments watching them scourge, before I glance at the sky, only to quickly look back up when I spy something falling down.

"Guys! It's Erza!"

"What?" Lisanna looks around. "Where?"

"There!" I point up, before running to try and catch her as she is only moments from hitting the ground now.

They stare at where I am pointing and see her as well. They run to help me catch her, but were too late and Erza crashes into me, knocking me to the ground.

"Ugh..."

"Are you two alright?" I hear Juvia's voice ask.

"I'm fine," I answer, before regarding Erza. "Are you okay, Erza?"

She opens up her amber brown eyes and looks around, before her gaze lands on me.

"I'm fine," she replies, before getting up and extending a hand to me. "Thank you for catching me."

"It's no problem. You're my friend, so I would have caught you no matter what," I take her hand and she pulls me to my feet. "But how did you end up falling from the sky?"

"It's a really long story," she sighs. "I'd have to start from the beginning if you were to understand."

"Wait...did you get the power to teleport or something?" Natsu asks her, his voice hopeful.

"I might have, but I'm not entirely sure."

"Sweet! This just got so much easier!" he exclaims, a wide grin spreading over his features. "Erza! Teleport us to Lucy!"

"What about Sting?" Rogue looks at him.

"We'll save him after!" the fire mage waves him off. "Now come on Erza! Let's go!"

"I don't think I'm strong enough to teleport all of you," she shakes her head. "And besides, it might have just been a one time thing."

"Aww..."

"How did you teleport in the first place, though?" the shadow mage questions. "I believe that you would have to know about the ability to utilize it, so how did you do it?"

"That's part of the long story which I honestly don't wanna talk about."

"Why not?" I inquire, my curiosity prickling. "What hap-?"

"Mira-nee, it's a really sensitive topic for her..." Lisanna interrupts me, her voice timid.

"How do you know that?"

"She told us about something that happened earlier," Juvia responds. "Juvia thinks that she will tell you once she's ready."

"Then can't you just tell us?" Laxus asks with a frown.

"I don't think that we should," Levy answers. "It's not our place to give away information like that."

"Listen...can we just get moving already?" Erza breaks up the discussion. "The longer we idle here, the less time that we have to save the other victims."

Without waiting for a response, Erza strides away from us. We quickly follow after her, not wanting to become separated from the S-class wizard again.

We plod through the swamp, taking a different path, but quickly become lost as it is hard to see in the dim light. The smell of damp leaves and fungus on decaying tree stumps irritates my nose as we walk, and I can tell the others smell it too. Every patch of land and wooden bridge that we walk along seems identical, so we don't appear to be making much progress.

"I think we're lost," I finally speak up after a while of wandering.

"We ain't lost," Gajeel claims. "Everything in this damn swamp just looks the same."

"That doesn't mean we aren't lost," I frown. "We need to stop for a minute."

"To do what?" Natsu asks.

"To figure out where we need to go so we can stop being lost."

"I don't think that we can if we don't know where we need to go in the first place," Levy chides in.

"Right, but that doesn't mean that we can't try," I say with a sigh. "Besides, I think that we all need a minute to calm down from the collapse anyways."

"Fine, we'll stop," Laxus concedes.

We stop on a patch of land and begin to talk about what direction we think we should head in, but we can't figure out anything. Everything in the swamp looks kindred, so we're unable tell where we need to go.

"Ugh...this isn't working!" Natsu whines impatiently. "Why can't we just keep walking?"

"Because we're probably just going to end up right back here," Gray glances over at him.

"You don't know that! And besides, even if we did, you wouldn't recognize it because everything in this swamp looks the same!"

"Ahem..."

Someone clears their throat nearby, and we look over to see none other than Bickslow, dressed in his pajamas with an umbrella to shield himself from the rain. His pajamas are veronica purple with dark blue images of his 'babies' on them, and austere black slippers adorn his feet.

"Maybe I could be of some assistance?"

"Who are you?" Erza's hand hovers over the hilt of her sword as she speaks.

"My name is Soul. If you want me to, I can help you out."

"What's the catch?"

"I will lead you through the swamp to the building where the next dreamer is being held, but you will need to answer a riddle first," Soul responds. "Answer correctly and I'll lead you, but get it wrong and I will not help you."

"So you're like that other guy," Gray points out. "Like Rune."

"I suppose you could say that," he nods in acknowledgment to the ice mage. "Rune and I are both led by the same person, so naturally I'm supposed to help you if you can answer a riddle."

"Wait...the other me was in the castle," Laxus realizes. "So who the hell is leading you?"

"His name is Flame. I could ask him to come sooner than he planned if you want to meet him."

"We'll meet him when he's ready," Wendy speaks up, kind as ever. "So, what's the riddle?"

"I was Master's second victim, but I am in no way her second favorite. If Master lost me then she would surely be crushed, but if I remain then I'll find myself among the stars sooner than I should," he recites the riddle. "Who am I?"

"Lucy." Almost all of us know the answer.

"Huh? How did you figure it out so quickly?" Soul appears to be mildly surprised.

"It wasn't too hard to figure out," Levy shrugs. "I mean, Wendy was the first one taken away and then Lu-chan was next."

"And saying stars made it pretty obvious," Gray adds. "There's only two victims who have magic that can be associated with the stars, and one of them already has been saved. So by the process of elimination, it's Lucy."

"Oh, I'll have to remember that for future riddles then," he realizes. "But anyways, fair is fair. Follow me."

Soul swivels around, facing away from us and starts walking down the wooden bridge. We all quickly follow after him.

"How do you even know your way through this place?" Gajeel asks. "Everything looks the same."

"What are you talking about? Everything doesn't look the same."

"Yes, it does," Lisanna argues. "Wherever we went, the landscape was completely identical."

"You didn't notice that you were going in circles?"

"We were going in circles?"

"You must have been," he answers. "That's the only way that I can justify everything in the swamp looking the same."

"Well, that's embarrassing..." Gajeel murmurs.

"I wouldn't be too embarrassed though. It's dark in this area, so winding up going in circles is a common occurrence," Soul explains. "Quite a few of us did that a lot when this place became a swamp."

"So you mean this place wasn't always like this?" Wendy moves to stand beside him, and I notice how Soul shifts his umbrella so that she is shielded from the rain as well.

"Yes, but that's a story Flame should tell you," he replies.

"Why's that?"

"I've actually forgotten a lot about what this place used to look like," he admits. "Same as the other two. But Flame is the one who remembers it the most, so you should ask him when he decides to show himself."

"How do you forget what your own home looks like?" Gray questions.

"Technically, this entire world is my home," Soul responds. "So don't judge me for forgetting what a part of this world looks like. I mean, do you remember what your world looked like when it was first created?"

"No, because I wasn't around to see it when it was first created," the ice wizard answers. "None of us were."

"Well, I'm sure that you don't remember what the world looked like when you first came into it, then?"

"Of course I don't."

"Then don't judge me for not remembering what this part of the world used to look like," Soul scoffs, before turning his attention back to the path ahead. "Oh, would you look at that. Time flies fast when you're talking."

We look to see that we are approaching a church that is partially submerged in murky water. A diversion in the bridge we are on leads to the double doors of the building, which from here appear weathered with age.

"This is where the next dreamer is being kept," Soul tells us.

"Huh. You actually kept your end of the deal," Laxus remarks.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought that you were going to only take us halfway and then ditch us," the lightning mage explains.

"Why would I ever do that?" Soul seems confused, and somewhat hurt. "A deal is a deal, so naturally when you answered my riddle correctly, I upheld my part."

"Because when we answered Rune's riddle, he didn't keep his end of the deal."

"Hmm...I'm going to have to ask Rune about that when I see him...anyways, be on your way. And if you encounter Master, please don't mention that I brought you here, alright?"

"Of course," Levy smiles. "Thank you, Soul."

"Don't mention it."

I watch as Soul moseys off into the distance with his umbrella protecting him from the rain, before my attention is taken off him by Lisanna tapping my arm.

"Come on, let's get out of the rain," my younger sister says, gesturing in the church's direction.

"Right."

We head into the building together, walking side-by-side. However, what is supposed to be a holy place that makes people feel safe and comforted...

Felt like we are instead entering a death trap.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	23. Chapter 22: Tempest Beloved

**Gray POV**

* * *

When we step out of the rain and into the church, it only occurs to me then how soaked we all are. Outside, the pitiless rain falls steadily, with a fierce malignity that is all too human.

"This feels so gross..." Lisanna speaks for all of us about our soggy clothes.

"You said it, Lis," Natsu agrees, before igniting himself.

"What do you think you're doing?" I look over at him. "You're gonna burn this place down, ash-for-brains!"

"No, I'm not!" he insists, extinguishing himself and leaving his clothes dry. "See?"

"See?" I repeat his statement, pointing at the scorch mark underneath his feet.

"Damn it..."

"Juvia does not know why this is bothering you," Juvia piques up, drenched as well. "Juvia doesn't feel a thing."

"That's because you're a water mage, Juvia," I glance over at her. "You're used to wet clothes."

I use my magic to make my body temperature cooler, so that the water turns to frost and feels a lot better than saturated clothing.

 _That's better._

I watch as Wendy does the same thing with her magic, which dries the others off quickly.

"Thanks, Wendy," Lisanna thanks the younger girl.

"You're welcome."

All of the sudden, cheerful laughter erupts from the room ahead, causing us all to look toward the double doors. The doors are the gray of unfurnished silver, dull and spotted with years of water damage. Where there should have been some fancy matching handles are only square shafts of dark metal.

"I know that laughter," I hear Rogue mutter.

He sprints to the large double doors and closes his fingers around the handles to pull, but they simply slip over the coarse edges and come away blackened. Rogue frowns and tries again, this time succeeding in sustaining his grip and opening the doors. He immediately runs into the room without hesitation. However, he quickly stops upon seeing the room empty, save for a few cobwebs and dead leaves.

We trail after him hastily, and I observe the rest of the dilapidated building as we go. It is an average looking church for the most part, except the Sabertooth guild mark is on the tarnished banners hanging from the walls, the pews are full of lifelike mannequins, and the room is in a state of neglect.

"Creepy..." I feel unsettled by the mannequins as Natsu pokes one of them curiously. Of course, there is another reason besides the eerie models that makes me uneasy.

The fact that we're in a dark, secluded church located in a forest-type place calls on memories of my time infiltrating Avatar. I never _liked_ playing evil, but I will do what's needed if it means protecting my guild. Still, that experience was...definitely something I didn't enjoy, to say the least. A uncontrollable shudder passes through my body, which I do my best to conceal from the others.

"These mannequins are dressed like members of Sabertooth," Rogue says to himself. "This confirms it...Sting is here."

"Hearing him laugh wasn't enough?" Laxus looks at him.

"Paw appears to have the ability of mimicking voices, so it very easily could've been her trying to catch us off guard," the shadow dragon slayer responds, his scarlet eyes scrutinizing the sullen room.

"And yet you ran in knowing that she might be in here?"

"I was willing to take that risk if it meant finding Sting."

Boisterous laughter resounds once again throughout the church, with it coming from the room to the left. Rogue wastes no time and bolts in that direction.

"Hey, wait!"

But he doesn't listen as he swings open the door and heads inside. Following after him, we discover wooden stairs leading up somewhere which Rogue is heading to already. I can hear the constant noises of the storm outside still, and it sounds like it's getting louder. The thunder seems to crack the air, as if the very heavens might split apart. It is like the ash out of a volcano, becoming a rolling, booming rumble. It declares to all the raw power of nature and gives fair warning of the wrath that is to come.

"Rogue, stop! What if Paw is trying to trick you?! She'll be ready for you!"

"I don't care! I'm going to save Sting no matter what it takes!"

We trail the Sabertooth member up the stairs, trying to stop him until we finally make it to a bell tower area. Upon reaching the top, we see none other than Sting himself there. He is laughing at something that a duplicate of Rogue has just told him.

"Damn, Rogue!" he chuckles, tears in his eyes. "W-when did you come up with that joke?"

"It's just a little something that I thought up," Paw says while in the form of Rogue. "Would you like to hear another one?"

"Sure!"

"What do you get when you combine a rock with a box of matches?"

"I don't know. What do you get?"

"Natsu Dragneel!" Paw exclaims. "He _does_ have the intelligence of a rock after all! Actually no, he doesn't...that would be insulting to rocks."

Sting erupts with laughter at Paw's joke, and I even let out a soft chuckle of my own.

"You asshole!" Natsu barks, sounding offended.

That comment causes Paw to finally notice us. She glares at us and discreetly snaps her fingers, seemingly doing nothing. However, when Natsu charges forward to attack the monster, he slams face-first into an invisible barrier.

'Not this time.' She mouths, before turning her attention back to Sting who seems to have heard us.

"What was that?" the master of Sabertooth asks, peering around. The barrier also prevents him from seeing us, apparently.

"I think it was some thunder," she lies. "The rain does seem to be getting worse."

"Huh, guess you're right," he gazes out one of the stained glass windows at the downpour. Sudden sprays of rain, like volleys of sharp arrows, rattle gustily against the windows. "Do you think that it'll start flooding?"

"No, it's not going to start flooding. It should stop raining before anything like that happens."

"Mm, I hope so."

"But friend...could you hold still for a second?" she inquires, an odd gleam in her eyes. "There's something I want to do."

"Sure. What do you want to do?"

Paw crawls over to be directly in front of him, hovering a few inches away from his face.

"This."

She leans in and plants an affectionate kiss on his cheek. When she pulls away, Sting has a faint blush on his face. My jaw drops at this, stunned at Paw's actions. To most, a kiss on the cheek would be a sign of friendship, or a polite way to greet a stranger of the opposite sex. But I know that a simple peck can convey as much meaning as a full-on kiss. Simple though it may be, a kiss on the cheek is special in its own, unique way.

"Wh-whoa..." he stutters, clearing not expecting that. "What was that for?"

"It was my way of showing you how much I care about you, Sting," she responds, a sweet smile on her face.

"Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did this?"

"Did wha-?" she is cut off by Sting leaning forward and kissing her. She doesn't do anything for a few seconds, before I can see her face turn a dark red, and her eyes blink in surprise.

Sting pulls away from her with a proud grin on his face, and chuckles at the blush he sees.

"Damn, Rogue! You look like a tomato!"

"Ri-right," she stares off to the side and a small, flustered smile appears on her face. "I, uh...I suppose that I do."

We are all watching in stupor as this happens, taken off guard from what has just transpired. However, I'm quickly brought back to my senses by an atramentous presence next to me. I glance over to see that Rogue has a immense, threatening shadow around him with his eyes being covered by his hair.

"Guys."

They look and see Rogue on the verge of going ballistic.

"I think that we should step back. Right now."

No one has any complaints as we take a large step back in unison. Rogue growls in anger as he summons up his magic, breaking through the barrier in one shot.

"What th-?!"

Paw doesn't get to finish her sentence as Rogue gives her a harsh-looking punch to the face, which knocks her to the stone floor. He moves like a shadow, slinking over to stand in front of Sting protectively. One look in the dragon slayer's eyes will tell you that he means business.

"So, you actually managed to break my barrier?" Paw asks, glaring at him as she staggers off the floor. "I would be impressed if, you know...I wasn't so distracted by you _punching me in the face!_ You jerk!"

"I wasn't trying to punch you in the face," Rogue sounds very, very angry. "I was trying to obliterate you, you vile, parasitic creature."

"What in the hell?!" Sting shouts, appearing baffled. "Why are there two Rogue's all of a sudden?!"

"There aren't two Rogue's," Rogue gazes over his shoulder at the blonde. "That one is fake and I'm the real one."

"No, he has it backwards! I'm the real Rogue!" Paw fibs. "He's trying to trick you!"

"Oh, so you're the real Rogue, huh?" the shadow mage speaks sarcastically, glaring at her with a livid expression.

"Yeah! You're the fake one!"

"We'll just see about that. How about we let Sting see you for what you really are?"

Before Paw can open her mouth to respond, Rogue has grabbed the front of her shirt and pulls her to him, hitting her hard across the face again.

"ARGH!"

The force from Rogue's punch causes her to stumble backwards, her form shifting a few times before she's forced to take on her true creepy, shadowy appearance.

"Holy shit!" Sting yelps upon seeing her real self. "What are you?!"

" _That's_ what's been making everyone fall asleep, Sting," Rogue explains to him, pointing an accusing finger at Paw. "She's what made Yukino fall asleep."

"But if that's what's been keeping everybody asleep, then am I asleep right now?" he asks, receiving a nod in response. "Seriously? How did I not notice?"

"Because this place is so much better than the real world!" Paw insists. "Your heart must've wanted this place to be the real, so why should you deny your heart what it yearns for?"

"Because he shouldn't listen to his heart for two reasons," Rogue responds. "One, he doesn't feel that way about this place and two, he'll die if he stays here."

"I wasn't asking you, Mister Gloom and Doom!" she growls at him, before turning back to Sting with a pleading expression. "Friend! Please stay with me, won't you? We can have so much fun here and it'll be great!"

"Hell no," Sting refuses instantly. "There's no way that I'll stay here."

"But...but..."

"Butts are for going to the bathroom," Sting frowns at her. "Come on, Rogue...let's get out of here."

It's at that moment that Paw drops to her knees and begins to cry into her shadowy hands, like the weight of losing her friends has finally come crashing down on her.

"Please! Don't leave me! Don't leave me like the others!"

We can't help but stare at her as she sits there and weeps. In Paw's sobbing, is the sound of a heart breaking. Hearts don't snap like brittle caramel or burst like an overfilled balloon; a heart breaks in the heaving waves of a new disturbing reality that has arrived uninvited. It is the one in which their child no longer lives, or their partner is terminally sick. It is entering a life they can't bear and so they break. They aren't the same again, there's just a part of them that has to die so that the rest of them can carry on their duties to the other people they love.

So as I watch Paw shake with grief, tears flowing unchecked, there's part of me that feels...guilty. I look at Rogue and Sting who are still standing there.

"Psst," I get their attention as quietly as possible so Paw won't hear. "Let's get out of here while she's distracted."

They nod and soundlessly walk towards us. We descend the tower and go back into the main room of the church, only to find that something rather alarming is occurring there.

Each of the mannequins in the pews are staggering towards us. Their movements are stiff and jerky, and they're rather slow as well; but that only adds to the morbid creepiness surrounding them.

"Eek!" Wendy squeaks, terrified.

"This is like something out of a nightmare," even I am a bit unsettled.

"It doesn't matter to me if they're a nightmare or a dream!" Natsu pounds his fist into his hand. "I'll burn these guys until they're nothin' but a pile of ashes!"

"Hold on a second, Natsu," Levy stops him. "I think I have a better idea."

"What could be better than getting rid of these guys?"

"Using them to our advantage," she answers, before looking at Rogue. "Rogue, I want you to give them a command."

"What makes you think that they'll listen to him?" Sting asks, clearly not willing to put his friend at risk.

"Because Paw had taken the form of Rogue, so maybe if the real Rogue gives them a command to go after Paw then they'll listen. It couldn't hurt to try, right?"

"Right," Rogue nods.

"Fine, but if we can't trick them then we burn them all, okay?" Natsu reluctantly backs off.

"That will be our Plan B," Mirajane tells him.

Rogue steps forward and watches the mannequins walk toward us for a few moments before speaking up.

"Stop!" he orders, raising his voice.

The mannequins halt. It seems like they're tricked into believing that he's Paw after all.

"Holy shit, it's actually working," Laxus murmurs, surprised.

"I am the real Paw and these people are now under my control," Rogue relays to them. "I left the real Rogue in the tower where he is trying to disguise himself as me...go up there and take care of him."

The mannequins start moving once again, but they go right past us and up the stairs where Paw is currently crying her eyes out.

"Creepy..." I shiver as one of them brushes past me, sending a weird feeling down my arm.

We get out of the church and start walking through the harsh rain once again, which swiftly soaks through our clothing. We move for about a minute before something happens that makes us pause.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

Paw's loud, distorted scream rings through the swamp, causing an almost equally loud clap of thunder to sound overhead. Man, what a scream that is. It causes the hair to stand straight up on the back of my neck. It sounds like a scream of wild panic, a scream of hysteria and disbelief, bordering on terror. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I'm sure it does for my friends as well.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Yay! Yaoi all the way!**


	24. Chapter 23: Riddle in the Mountain

**Nobody POV**

* * *

After Paw has scarcely managed to dispose of the mannequins, she sits on her hands and knees, taking deep, ragged breaths. Her mangled lip and obviously broken nose are caked in dried blood, congealed and cracked. The now browning blood has drizzled down her face like so much rain down a windowpane. There is the white jagged end of a broken bone cutting through the skin of her wrist, and blood runs freely in thick, scarlet rivers down her legs.

"It's...it's too much...to heal in...one...batch..." she wheezes out.

There is a puddle of blood gradually forming under her, the crimson liquid growing steadily.

"I'll...I'll have to take...take care of...it later..."

She gets to her feet, her legs shaking as if her body weight strains them.

"Right now...I need to...to make...sure that sh...she's okay..."

Paw uses what is left of her power to teleport from the swamp to the telescope tree, where Lucy is fast asleep.

"Ahh..." she lets out a happy sigh at the sight of her friend, safe and unharmed.

She collapses next to the blond-haired girl and tugs her into her arms. Lucy's sleeping body is now seated in her lap, with Paw using her shoulder as a pillow.

"Don't worry...I...I won't let them take you too..." she breathes, before frowning with spiteful bitterness. "You're all that I have left in this big lonely world, after all..."

Paw nuzzles her face into the top of Lucy's head as one of her shadowy hands cradles her cheek affectionately.

"If they want you, then they'll have to pry you from my cold, dead hands..."

The turquoise dots that are Paw's eyes disappear, appearing to be her way of shutting her eyes and allowing herself to get some rest.

* * *

 **Juvia POV**

* * *

We walk down the bridge until we finally reach the beginning of the mountain path that we had walked through in order to get here. We begin to walk down the path, but as we go, something seems...off. The mountain path has become slick under the rain, the only clues to the ruts being the icy puddles. It rises steeply before disappearing at a rocky outcrop up ahead, myself unable to tell if it went to the left or right after that.

"This isn't right..." I speak up.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asks, turning to look at me. "This is the same path we walked to get here, right?"

"No...something is different about it," I answer, frowning. "The path did not twist and turn this much...somebody must have changed it."

"So you mean it's an even _harder_ maze now?" Natsu says in disbelief.

"Juvia believes so."

"Shit!"

"Oh suck it up, baby," Laxus rolls his eyes. "It's not so bad."

"You weren't here the first time, Laxus! This place was a total _nightmare_ to get through!"

"Come on, it can't be that bad," Sting boasts. "Let's go."

We continue onwards, and as I suspect, it is much more difficult to traverse with a lot more dead ends, paths that lead to the same place, narrower pathways, and more dangers to avoid; it seems insoluble now.

"Gods of magic, damn it all!" Sting yells, his attitude much different than before. "This is the third time that we've ended up at the start!"

"Calm down, Sting," Rogue consoles, "Getting upset isn't going to help anyone."

"You can't deny that this is the most bullshit that we've had to put up with all year, Rogue!"

"True, but you need to calm down."

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I agree with him," Laxus reluctantly states. "Calm down. Before I _make_ you."

"Ugh...fine..."

The lightning mage averts his gaze from Sting, and turns his attention back ahead. However, he quickly rises an eyebrow upon seeing something.

"Laxus? What're you looking at?"

"That."

I look to see a female figure sauntering down the uneven path. They open a leaf-green umbrella to shield themselves from the rain, before entering the swamp.

"Hello there," Evergreen greets us. She is wearing a black lingerie top and emerald pajama bottoms, so I immediately knew she is not the real Evergreen due to her wearing pajamas. "The mountain path has changed quite a lot, hasn't it?"

"Hello," Mirajane says back, "how did you get through it?"

"It's not that hard," she replies. "Difficult, yes, but not hard."

"Think you could show us the way?"

"I could, but wouldn't you much rather just be teleported across?" she suggests.

"You can do that?" I ask, curious.

"Well, I can't transport you all across, but Flame certainly can," she says. "He told us that if you can solve our final riddle, then he'll teleport you out of the swamp."

"Can't he just teleport us to Lucy?" Lisanna asks. "And you did say 'our'?"

"No...he cannot teleport you all that far," she responds. "And yes, I did."

The Evergreen double whistles loudly, and not even a second later the air on either side of her begins to glimmer. The spaces shift like a mirage, and soon the forms of two people take shape. I identify them as Rune and Soul after a moment, before the air stops gleaming and they have fully appeared.

"Rune. Soul," she greets them in a formal tone.

"Medusa."

"We've worked hard to come up with this riddle and you only have one chance to get it right," Medusa relays to us. "If you mess up even in the slightest, then you lose and you must travel through the mountains by yourself. Understood?"

We nod in response.

"Good. I bet that you'll never be able to get this one right," she seems somewhat excited. "Now come on you two, it's time for the riddle."

"It grows and blossoms, it dies and wilts," Rune starts.

"It happens in the beginning and it happens in the end," Soul continues.

"It can make you cry, it can make you sad, but it also can make you happy and make you brave," Medusa goes on.

"What is it?"

Their voices overlap on the last bit, and the trio goes silent as they stare at us expectantly for our reply.

I start thinking about what the answer to the riddle could be, and I can tell my comrades are doing the same.

 _It could be a flower, but how could a flower make you brave?_

After some time of silence, I hear Mirajane gasp.

"What is it, Mira?"

"I know what the answer is."

"Really? That quickly?" Gajeel cocks an eyebrow.

"Uh huh," she bobs her head up and down. "I can't believe that I didn't think of it sooner."

"If you're absolutely sure that you have it, Mirajane, then go ahead," Levy encourages.

"I won't let you down," she has a confident look on her face.

She turns her attention to the three in pajamas, who are patiently waiting for our response. The she-demon takes a step towards them.

"I assume that you have an answer?"

"I do. The answer is love."

"That is-" Rune attempts to tell her.

"Wait!" Soul stops him, then does a drumroll by slapping his hands against his legs. "Okay, go."

He sighs, shaking his head at Soul's antics.

"It is the correct answer," Medusa confirms.

"Way to go, Mira!" Natsu cheers, obviously happy about not having to navigate the mountain.

"How did you get the answer that quickly?" Soul inquires. "We spent at least an hour trying to come up with that one."

"If love is involved, then nothing can stay hidden from the queen of match-making," Mirajane smiles.

"I doubt that's a real thing," Rune frowns.

"She's joking, Rune," Soul tells him. "It's not a real thing."

"You don't know that," Mirajane argues.

"Before this escalates, I suggest that the three of us call Flame," Medusa speaks up before Rune could open his mouth. "You may want to step back, miss."

Mirajane back-step|, and I expect to see some kind of summoning ritual from the trio. Instead, Medusa inhales deeply before cupping her hands around her mouth.

"HEY, FLAME! THEY SOLVED THE RIDDLE!" she yells at the top of her lungs, causing a few of us to cover our ears. "COME OUT AND KEEP YOUR END OF THE DEAL!"

A few moments later, the air in front of us starts to glimmer like it did before. In no time, there is a new person standing before us. Assuming this is Flame, I can't help but feel surprised at who it turned out to be.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Laxus stares. "Their leader is _Romeo_?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I am not the real Romeo," Flame has an indifferent expression on his face. "I was late choosing a form to take, so I wound up having to take the form of a child from your world."

"Could you at least turn into your real self so we could take you seriously?" Gray asks.

"Unfortunately, no...if I were to take on my true form, then I surely would be punished," he says back. "I would most likely wind up like my late companion."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That isn't important right now. Besides, you will see for yourselves in the future. What's important right now is that you solved the riddle and now I will keep my end of the bargain. Come here and hold onto me, if you would."

We move closer to Flame and each place a hand on him.

"Brace yourselves," he cautions. "Teleportation can be quite disorientating."

Flame closes his eyes, and we suddenly find ourselves teleporting alongside him. The space around us moves and shifts rapidly, changing to a different, shimmering color every second. My stomach lurches without warning, and the next thing I know my feet are once more on solid ground. I blink in quick pace, gathering up my new surroundings.

We have wound up on the other side of the mountains, and appear to be back in the forest of various trees.

"Finally...we're- urk..."

Relief is cut short as the dragon slayers of our group become afflicted with motion sickness.

"Are you alright?" Flame asks, frowning as he stares at them in concern.

"They're fine," Lisanna reassures him. "Dragon slayers always get like this when they take modes of transportation."

After they realize that they are back on a non-moving platform, the slayers recover quickly.

"I see...that is indeed interesting..." he nods his head. "Now before I go, I will allow you to ask one question and I shall answer it the best I can..."

"Are there any other people trapped here?" Erza questions.

"Yes, but it's just one person. I believe that you already know who that is," he replies. "I would be careful if I were you, I know for a fact that Master would rather die a thousand deaths then lose her."

"Then I guess that's what she's gonna have to do, because Luce can't stay here," Natsu responds determinedly. "She'll die if she does."

"That she will, so I wish you luck in saving your friend," Flame says, before pointing in the distance. "Walk in that direction and you will surely come across her personal paradise."

"Thank you, Flame."

"You're welcome. Now, be on your way."

He vanishes, having most likely teleported away somewhere. We head in the direction that Flame had pointed us in, wondering what awaited us there.

* * *

 **I'm very sorry for the boring chapter but I'm gonna try to make the next chapter very interesting, alright?**

 **Review plz?**


	25. Chapter 24: The Eternal Night

**Gray POV**

* * *

We meander in the direction that Flame had pointed us in with Sting, Mirajane, and Laxus looking around in awe at all of the various kinds of plant life.

"This doesn't make any sense," Sting speaks up. "How are all these trees growing in the same place? That shouldn't be possible, right?"

"In the real world, maybe, but this is the dream world," Erza answers. "Anything should be possible here."

"Anything, huh~?"

"I know what you're thinking, Mira; and no, you can't make all of your ships come true," Lisanna looks at her sister.

"Aww..." the demoness seems disappointed. "Why not?"

"Because we don't have power here," Lisanna told her. "We can't create things and we can't manipulate anything either."

"Damn it..."

We keep going, until we find ourselves underneath a beautiful night sky. Sequin-silver stars like the scattered embers of a dying fire wink down at me, illuminating the stygian curtain of sky. I also take note that the ground is now beginning to steep upwards as well.

"We must getting closer."

"Here we come, Lu-chan," Levy mutters to herself.

It takes some time before we reach the top of the hill. I glimpse over the side and see that the hill has turned into a pernicious cliff, with the only way down being to jump.

"That's a long way down," I comment.

"We'll be alright," Erza glances over the edge. "We've fallen from much greater heights before."

"Are you sure about that, Erza?" Wendy sounds skeptical. "This doesn't look like something that you could survive."

"We fell from the goddamn sky when we arrived, and we were completely fine. We could easily survive something like this," Natsu scoffs. "Trust us."

"Okay..."

"On three, we jump," Erza states. "One...two...thr-"

"HALT!"

An invisible force roughly shoves us away from the cliff. We stumble backwards, some of us even falling down.

"What the hell was that?!" Gajeel demands once he regains his balance.

A person appears at the edge of the cliff, and to my surprise, it is a duplicate of myself. He mirrors me in every detail, the only exception being that he wears pajamas. His sleepwear consists of blue and gray checkered pants, and a plain white t-shirt. He has his arms crossed over his chest as he glares at us in distaste. I take notice that he doesn't have a demon slayer tattoo on his arm like I do, so he most likely doesn't have my slayer magic.

"Just what do you all think you're doing? This area is strictly off limits. No one is allowed in or out."

"But you're outside of the area," Lisanna points out.

"I may be, but Master isn't gonna care. Especially when I left to keep you all away," he responds. "Besides, she's too tired to dish out any punishments right now."

"Those mannequins must have done a number on her if that's the case," Laxus grumbles.

"Can we _please_ go inside the area?" Mirajane asks politely, smiling sweetly at my duplicate.

"Do you not understand what 'off limits' means?"

"Worth a shot..."

"No, it really wasn't. But all of you better listen up when I say that _none of you_ are gonna make it in so long as I'm here."

"Then I guess we're just gonna have to move ya' by force," Gajeel grind, cracking his knuckles.

"I'd like to see you try," my doppelgänger threatens. "I may be outnumbered, but I'll sure as hell destroy all o-"

He cuts himself off, his gaze freezing on Juvia. His eyes widen, a number of emotions passing over his face in the span of seconds.

"What...the...fuck..."

"U-umm..." Juvia appears unnerved by his stare.

The other me stares at the water mage for quite some time, before his eyes shift into a indignant glare.

"Aqua!" he snaps. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Huh...? Juvia does not know what you're talking about," Juvia protests, sounding just as confused as I felt.

"Don't play dumb with me! You've done a lot of strange things in the past, but siding with the enemy? I thought you were better than that. I thought you were loyal to Master, you bitch!"

Without another word, he darts towards us and seizes Juvia's wrist. He dashes towards the edge, pulling her with him, but only gets as far as where he had been standing originally when Juvia starts thrashing in his grasp.

"What are you doing?! Let go of Juvia this instant!"

"No! I refuse to let you throw your life away! If Master finds out about this, you're as good as dead!"

Whatever stupor I was in, whatever spell had been cast over me, broke as I unfreeze from my standstill.

"Hey! Let her go!" I race forwards, only for Juvia's captor to knock me back with a hard kick to the stomach. "Argh!"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia calls out, her azure eyes shining with worry.

"You're coming with me, Aqua!" he sweeps her over his shoulder effortlessly. "Whether you want to or not!"

My double jumps off the cliff, with Juvia held tightly in his grasp.

"JUVIA!" I roar, ignoring the pain from the hit.

I didn't wait for the others as I sprint towards the edge.

"H-hey! Gray, wait!"

"What are yo-?!"

" _GRAY!_ "

Ignoring their calls, I leap without hesitation, the world around me quickly changing to black. I find myself descending in the darkness, hurling towards an invisible floor; a floor that will most likely kill me if I continue to fall at this speed. As the air pushs against my face, I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. To my surprise, the landing doesn't hurt. It is as if some unseen force has slowed me down before I collide with the ground. However, I'm not concerned about my well-being. Looking around hastily, I can see that I am in a rather dark forest.

Bare branches spike into the sky, and there is no sign of life to be found anywhere. It is so aphotic that I am barely able to see where I am at all. There is no noise; not the small sounds of rustling bushes nor the howl of the wind. It is eerily silent. I don't know what lays in this dark forest; all I know is that it isn't going to be a peaceful journey.

Not missing a beat, I stand up, searching around to see where they went. But the other me didn't leave a single trace in his wake. There is no sound of running, no marks in the grass to indicate his path.

Nothing.

"No...no...dammit!" I yell, my fist hitting the trunk of a nearby tree. The bark cracks, and ice materializes where my hand has touched. My control over my magic is slipping slightly, frost forming over the grass around my feet and the air growing colder. I can feel my markings begin to creep up my arm, taking advantage of my consternation. Once again, like madness, the black shapes of doubt and anger swing through my brain.

"GRAAAAAAAAAY!"

Flinching, I glance back to where the voice is originating from. It's none other than Natsu, who has followed me down it seems. I let my hand drop to my side, sighing.

"Oi ice princess! The hell do you think you're doing, just chasing after that bastard on your own?"

"Look who's talking..."

The dragon slayer ignores my reply. "Anyways, I jumped off the cliff after you, but the others hit a barrier that appeared. They'll be here soon after they break through it, though."

Natsu's olive eyes drift down to my arm, which is exposed due to my shirt having fallen off(no surprise there). It's clear to see that the sinister black marks from my devil slayer magic have inched up to my forearm.

"You alright, frosty?"

Natsu asks, his tone casual. Yet his eyes betray his words, brewing with concern. I sigh in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm fine, idiot."

"You have your slayer magic under control, right?"

I blink, caught off guard by his question.

"What? Of course I do."

"Really? Because I can see your markings all over your arm."

"I was just preparing to fight my double, squinty eyes," I lie, the fabrication of truth coming easily from my lips.

My rival frowns at my answer, but seems to believe me for the moment. Not even seconds later, the rest of our group comes toppling down, landing on the ground as we did.

"Hey, Gray! Did you find your twin?" Lisanna asks upon seeing me.

"No..." I say resentfully.

Natsu smirks at me, his expression now smug. "Well, lucky for us I'm a great tracker. I've already got his scent now," he boasts, and I shoot a glare in his direction.

"Really? Wow, Natsu, I wish I had as good of a nose as you!" Wendy says, admiring him.

"What are we waiting for then? Lead the way, Natsu," Erza states, gesturing for the dragon slayer to proceed.

I look up, watching into the trees. Except for a few shreds of moonlight, the woods are as dark as a shut closet. Seems we need that idiot's nose after all. And so, we begin to transverse through the forest, following Natsu's lead.

 _Stupid pyromaniac, showing off...stupid other me, kidnapping Juvia...stupid, stupid, stupid..._

I think bitterly, my nails digging into my palms as I clench my fists. The others have shuffled a bit away from me, due to the fact that the air has grown chillier around me. Rogue seems fine, though, as his shadows most likely protect him from the temperature to some extent. Mirajane is smiling as she trails behind the twin dragon slayers, her happy expression because of their linked hands.

The forest around us is shadowed and twisted, the curved trees looming creepily. There is no light, no animals, no wind. It is all silent and dark and hiemal. Bushes of thorns catch our clothes, snaring and tearing at them ever so slightly.

We continue our pace for a while, until I glimpse a figure in the distance.

 _There he is..._

I dash forward, not bothering to observe any further.

"Gray, what are you doing?! That isn't-!"

The fire mage doesn't get to finish what he's saying as I jump, tackling the person to the ground.

"I've got you now, you son of a bitch!" I growl.

"What in the hell are you doing?!" A feminine voice demands. "Get off of me!"

I have a clearer view of what they look like now that I'm up close. And to my embarrassment, I see that it is in fact Juvia whom I've tackled.

"Oh shit...I...uh...um..." I can feel my face heating up upon realizing my mistake.

Scrambling off her quickly, I stand up. Still feeling embarrassed, I extend a hand out to her. She grasps it, pulling herself onto her feet just as the others catch up with me.

"Hasn't anybody ever told you to look before you leap?" she asks, frowning at me.

"I'm really sorry about that...I thought you were the other me..."

"I tried to tell you that it wasn't him, ice freak," Natsu scolds. "But did you stop and listen to me? Nooo..."

That only adds more to my humiliation.

"It's nice to see that you're alright, Juvia," Mirajane says with a smile.

"Juvia?" A look of confusion flashs in her eyes.

"Yes, that's your name," she responds, before seeming concerned. "What's the matter? Did you hit your head?"

"And how did you get away to begin with?"

"Oh! I got him to lose his grip on me and once I was free, I fought him," she tells us. "I think that I must have hit my head during the fight. I do feel rather dizzy, after all."

"I'm just glad to see you're alright," I say, internally relieved.

"And I'm glad to see that you're all alright as well," she smiles. "But could someone please remind me what we're doing? I'm afraid I've forgotten."

"Wow...you must have hit your head pretty hard if that's the case..." Wendy states, frowning. "Sit down and let me take a look at you, you could have a head injury."

"No, no," Juvia protests. "I assure you that I'm alright, so there's no need for that. Just tell me what we're doing again."

"Well, we saved the other victims from Paw, and now we're gonna save Lucy then get out of here," Lisanna explains.

"Actually, the other Fullbuster dude might know where bunny girl is," Gajeel suggests. "How bout we go track him down and interrogate the bastard? It would make things a lot easier."

I notice that Juvia tenses up out of the corner of my eye at the mention of my doppelgänger, but I brush it off as nothing.

"Yes, but we could just be wasting our time looking for him in this darkness," Levy reasons. "We'd just be wandering around blindly after all."

"That's what we're gonna be doing either way," Laxus points out, before looking at the water mage. "Did you see what direction he ran off in when you beat him?"

"Uhhh...yeah...it shouldn't be very hard to catch him. I'll pair up with him," she points at me, "and track down his other self while the rest of you search for Lucy."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I look at her. "It might not be smart for just us to go."

"Of course I'm sure," she sounds confident. "If we don't find him after a while then we'll give up and come to the rest of the group."

"Alright, but if you can't beat him then don't be ashamed to run away," Mirajane consoles us.

"Got it."

Juvia makes a motion to me before walking away. I'm about to follow her when I feel a strong hand grab my arm, stopping me. Glancing back, I see that it's Natsu.

"What are you doing?"

"Something's wrong with Juvia," he says, his eyes gleaming with an emotion I can't identify.

"What do you mean?"

"She's been speaking in the first person instead of the third person like she usually does, she looked confused when we called her Juvia, and she tensed up when we mentioned that other you. Doesn't that raise any red flags for you?"

"She said that she hurt her head, and I trust her when she says that," I respond firmly. "She's probably just a disoriented or something."

"Listen, just be ready for a fight in case she tries to kill you, alright?" he says in a rather serious tone. "Don't wind up dead."

"I'm gonna be fine, flamebrain. I don't know what you're so worked up about."

"Gray! Where are you?" Juvia's voice calls out to me. "I'm not going to wait for you forever, so hurry up please!"

Natsu makes a 'see what I mean?!' gesture in the direction her voice is coming from.

"Whatever," I roll my eyes. "You're being paranoid. Now let go."

"Alright, fine," he shakes his head. "Just don't come crying to me when she suddenly turns on you."

Natsu releases my arm and runs to catch up with the others, while I go in the other direction after Juvia.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Yay, Gray-centered things! And a bit of Natsu and Gray brOTP in there, I love it!**


	26. Chapter 25: Shadows of Doubt

**Erza POV**

* * *

I feel the hairs on my neck stand up, the twisted trees unsettling me as we walk. Stepping deeper into the forest robs me of one sense and heightens the others. It is disorientating to be almost blinded, but given the ears of a wolf. Even the soft susurration of footsteps feels heavy on my ears. The sense of smell is sensitized, the loam in the earth and the decomposing leaves making the atmosphere close and thick.

The blackness nurtures a sense of claustrophobia inside me, even though the woodland probably stretches unbroken for miles. The narrow path, which is made uneven by the knotted roots that crosses it, branches at intervals. There's no map to follow, but even if there was, the perpetual dark would prevent me from using it.

As we head further into the woods in search of Gray's look-alike, I can't help but notice that while Natsu appears normal in composure, his eyes gleam with worry.

This troubles me. Natsu isn't one for deep thought, but at certain points, he would prove to be serious when he puts his mind to it. And right now, something seems to be ailing the dragon slayer.

I let myself fall behind the rest of the group so I am walking next to Natsu; this way, our conversation will have at least some privacy.

"What's wrong, Natsu?"

The pink haired teen blinks, before staring at me in confusion.

"Huh? I dunno what you mean, I'm fine."

I give him a pointed look.

"Natsu, I've known you since we were children. You are clearly not 'fine'."

Natsu is reticent for a few seconds, his green eyes studying the ground as we walk.

"I don't trust her."

"Don't trust who?"

"Juvia. She was acting really weird when we found her. Something isn't right..."

I smile slyly at him, "Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail, over-analyzing something? This is a first."

"You know what I mean, Erza," the dragon slayer sighs. My smile melts away, and I join him in gazing at the forest floor.

"Yes, I do. But Juvia said that she had hit her head, it's a reasonable thing."

Natsu clenchs his fists tightly, hard enough that his knuckles turn white.

"Well, I don't buy it. Even if she was a bit dazed from 'hitting her head', as she claims, forgetting her own name is definitely suspicious. Cause she looked like she remembered us fine, but forgot the recent events that had happened. It's not right, something's up. And another thing—she hasn't been speaking in the third person. For as long as we've known Juvia, she's always talked that way. Hell, even Gajeel said that when he first met Juvia she spoke in the third person!"

"Natsu. She was injured, it is perfectly logical for her to be disoriented. Forgetting manner of speech after a head wound is a common thing, there's nothing to worry about."

He shakes his head at my statement.

"Something is definitely wrong here, Erza. You don't get it. Oh, and Juvia is _obsessed_ with Gray!"

"So?"

" _So_ she would have been thrilled with ice block on top of her when he tackled her! I don't trust her at all, we shouldn't have let Gray go off with her."

I absorb all this as we stride along, before a small smirk grows on my face.

"Could it be, Natsu, that you're jealous Juvia is alone with Gray?"

"YOU DON'T GET IT, ERZA!"

My eyebrows shoot up, taken aback by his sudden raise in voice. Peering closely at him, I can see that his fists are clamped and his expression is one of frustration.

"Think about it, something isn't _right!_ If that idiot ends up dying because we blindly trusted her, it'll be our fault!"

Placing a comforting hand on the dragon slayer's shoulder, I try to get him to calm down.

"If anything goes wrong, you can track Gray's scent back to them. And not to mention, Gray can fight Juvia and win, he's strong. He'll be fine."

Natsu sighs, shutting his eyes momentarily before opening them again.

"I guess you're right...but I still don't trust her."

I smile at him, allowing my arm to drop back to my side.

"It's nice to see that you care for your best friend after all, Natsu."

"HE IS _NOT_ MY BEST FR- forget this!" the fire mage huffs, his face dusted pink as he storms ahead to re-join the group. I retain my smile, staring at his back as I continue my gait.

 _Even if you won't admit it, I know that he's like a brother to you._

* * *

 **Gray POV**

* * *

Walking side-by-side with Juvia, I follow her lead through the shadows of the forest. I can feel the darkness drawing closer to me and pressing down, suffocating me slowly as I step carefully through the thick maze of woodland. The densely packed trees loom high above, but remain still despite the breeze that continues to flow around us. The silvery moonlight is slowed to a trickle by the full branches, and I have to squint, only to see a path of gloom and uncertainty ahead.

"Ugh...I can't see a thing in this darkness. How can you see so well, Juvia?"

"I suppose that my eyes must have adjusted quickly to the lack of light," she doesn't look back at me. "I'm not sure why, but that seems like the reason."

"Oh. So, any sign of the other me yet?"

"If I did see him, then don't you think that I would have told you?"

"I'm guessing that means no."

"Yes, I haven't seen any sign of your double," she gives a small sigh. "Now if you would please hush, I need to focus on the path ahead."

I go quiet as she asked, continuing with her through the dark forest. It takes a while before I notice something off about the area around us.

"Everything looks the same around here," I think out loud.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"This place looks really familiar...we've been here before."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she glances away from the path to focus on me. "This is our first time being here, your eyes must be playing tricks on you."

"No, they aren't," I shake my head. "Have we been going in circles?"

"Uhhh..."

"Wait a second...you've been purposefully leading me in circles, haven't you?"

"N-no! Of course not!"

"Juvia, I want answers and I want them now," I demand, approaching her.

"I'm telling you, I'm not- ahh!"

Not looking where she was going, Juvia fumbles over an unearthed root, landing on the trodden ground with a _thump_. Her body suddenly flickers like a hologram, before the clothes she is wearing melts into nightwear.

"Crap!"

"You're one of them!" I exclaim, getting into my fighting stance. "Where's the real Juvia? What did you do with her?!"

The fake Juvia gets up and dusts off her pajamas, before swiveling around to stare at me.

"I'm afraid that I cannot tell you that. Besides, I don't even know what happened to her," she speaks coolly, her gaze regarding me with newfound abhor. "I only know what you have told me, and that is that Ice has kidnapped her."

"If you don't know where she is, then I'm just gonna have to force you to take me to 'Ice'."

"I can't do that either, as I do not know where he is at the moment. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell the likes of you."

"Hard way it is, then."

"Don't even try it."

She thrusts her left palm forward, and suddenly I find myself unable to move. I'm completely paralyzed, and it seems my magic is disabled as well when I try to use it.

"What th-?"

"Did you _honestly_ think that I was just going to let you go? Ha! As if I would let anybody hurt my Ice in a million years," she smirks. "He may be bossy sometimes, but he's still my partner, and I'll be damned if I let some debauched trespasser get to him."

"Damn you...let me go!"

"He gets mad and yells at me a lot because of the stuff I do. And even then, he's my teammate and I care about him...I mean, I only do all that to get his attention. And it makes me so happy when he notices me, even if he doesn't like me...I actually think I mi-"

"What are you talking about?" I furrow my eyebrows, unsure of what in the hell she is going on about.

She blinks, before quickly shaking her head with a dark blush spread across her features.

"Nothing! Just forget I said anything! But nonetheless, back to you...yes, I admit I was leading you in circles, and I also admit that I wanted you to be quiet so I could think of what to do with you."

"What to...? Are you saying that you're gonna kill me?"

"I was considering it at first, but I've never been one to kill," she responds. "So...how about..."

She keeps trailing off like she's still trying to decide what course of action to take. Suddenly, she claps her hands together.

"I know! If you've all been annoying Master by taking away her friends like you said, I should deliver you to her! Then you pests will be robbed of one of your own. And the other trespassers will be wandering this forest lost for a while, and it'll buy lots of time for Master to recover. And Master will be happy for me to have brought her someone new, and she'll reward me. Maybe...maybe she can talk to Ice and we can..."

Her eyes glint with ecstatic determination, the prospect of that idea fueling for her.

"Yes...yes, that's what I'll do! But how to transport you...?"

"You're not taking me anywhere! My friends will stop you!"

"Sure they will."

The copycat Juvia swaggers towards me, hefting a large rock off the ground as she does so. "Sorry about this, it's gonna hurt. But it'll make moving you a whole lot easier."

"Wh-"

I never get to finish my sentence as she slams the rock down on my head. There is a jarring pain, and then everything goes black.

* * *

 **Nobody POV**

* * *

The blue-haired woman drops the rock to the ground, a sadistic smile on her face. She then picks up the unconscious devil slayer into her arms, grunting under his dead weight.

"Ugh, so heavy. But it'll be worth it to make Master happy..."

The other Juvia proceeds to slowly make her way through the forest, with Gray's weight making it so that she can't teleport or move very quickly.

 _I'm going to have to be careful...i_ _f the other trespassers find me, then I'm as good as dead..._

She trudges through the dark forest, carrying Gray in her arms as she pays close attention to her surroundings as not to risk coming across anyone.

* * *

 **PawPrinted-Writer(author): Oh no! Juvia isn't real! Who could have see-! Okay enough of that...I know it was too obvious that Juvia isn't real but whatever I guess...anyways...**

 **Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Damn, that's the second time Gray's been hit in the head.**


	27. Chapter 26: Icy Heart

**Juvia POV**

* * *

The other Gray, who I have learned is named Ice, brought me to a quaint tree house in the forest.

The room is painted in various shades of blue and contains a small bed, neatly made, two straight-backed chairs, a washstand, a bureau, and a small pinewood table. There is white linen curtains stretching right to the floor, and a strange looking painting on one of the walls.

The composition of the painting is curious. My eyes are moving from place to place, unable to decide what the focus of the piece is. I can only imagine that the art reflects the chaos inside the artist. The colors are vivid, almost to the point of garish. The stroke lines are bold and the images from out of this world. It is both stunning and headache inducing, like a novel condensed onto a single page. But my attention is snapped back to the moment at hand when I feel rope brush against my skin.

Ice binds my wrists behind my back and ties my ankles together so I cannot escape, before laying me down on the king-sized bed. Glancing to the side, I can see that there is a framed photo on one of the nightstands.

It portrays two people I don't recognize, a boy and a girl, standing together. The girl has a smile on her face, but the boy is frowning. Yet I can see the soft hue of red in his cheeks, which tells me he's somewhat happy. I turn my attention back to Ice after looking around the room. He has a seat in a chair, and then stares at me for a while.

"Do you mind untying Juvia?" I asks, breaking the silence.

"No. I don't know what the hell has gotten into you, Aqua. You've done a lot of strange stuff in the past, but...you've slacked off, pulled pranks, and there was that one time you even stole my underwear...but now you're siding with the _enemy?_ What is wrong with you?"

"They are not the enemy, they are Juvia's friends!" I argue. "You are Juvia's enemy and Juvia does not ally with you!"

"Ugh...how long are you gonna keep up this charade? You aren't Juvia, you're Aqua."

"Juvia is Juvia and Juvia _is_ the water! But Juvia is not 'Aqua'!"

"Now you're just rambling..."

"Just let Juvia go so she can get back to Gray-sama and her friends! They must be very worried about Juvia!"

"You aren't going anywhere until you're back to normal. I'll be damned if I let you be seen by Master when you're like this. Although she might not kill you, Dragon will find out, and that maniac will come running..."

"What do you mean? Paw is the maniac, not Dragon."

"Don't you remember what happened last year? I yelled at Master for being reckless and jumping down a void hole. Dragon hunted me down afterwards and started attacking me...if you hadn't shown up when you did, he probably would've killed me."

I go silent, at a loss for words. Dragon hasn't seemed like the kind of person to do that.

"I swear, that guy is so dedicated to Master...it's actually kind of scary," Ice comments. "How much do you wanna bet that he has some kind of shrine to her in his room?"

"Juvia doesn't know about that, because she isn't who you think she is. You must be mistaking Juvia for someone else."

"That's not possible, because someone who looks exactly the same and sounds the same as another person isn't real _—_ except with identical siblings."

 _He thinks that Juvia is someone named Aqua, but Juvia isn't. Hold on...can't the dream people here take the form of people from our world? Maybe someone here has taken Juvia's appearance, and Ice thinks that Juvia is her._

"Listen, Aqua...just be quiet or I'll tape your mouth shut," he says, glowering at me. "I'm going to keep you here until you give up this foolish act, and nothing you say is gonna make me set you free. It's for your own good, after all."

I cease talking as I try to formulate a plan of escape. But with how intently Ice is watching me, it seems like freedom is impossible on my own.

 _Gods of magic, if you can hear Juvia right now...please, give a sign to Juvia's friends that she is here. J_ _uvia cannot do this alone..._

It's at that moment that a small dove lands on the windowsill of one of the open windows. I make eye contact with it, and I could've sworn that its eyes widen.

"Help, please..." I whisper as quietly as I am able.

The dove flies off into the night, but the sound of the bird flapping its wings causes Ice to look over.

"A dove? In a place like this?" he watches as its form fades into the distance. "I thought only nocturnal birds lived in this area..."

"It must have gotten lost," I take it as a sign that help is coming, and attempt to get his attention off of it.

"Probably. Hope the little thing finds its way home..."

Ice starts intently observing me once again, and I'm unsure if he is actually blinking or not. But I cannot care less as I lay there staring back at him, and hoping that help will arrive soon.

I wait for what feels like hours upon hours, before I finally notice something in my peripheral vision.

 _What's that?_

Peering over at the window where the bird had previously been, I glimpse a familiar ivory-haired girl peeking into the house. Her sapphire eyes scan around the room, before coming to a rest on me.

"What do you see?" I can hear Wendy's voice say softly.

"Juvia's in there, and she's tied up," Lisanna whispers back.

"I KNEW IT! I _knew_ the Juvia with Gray wasn't real!" Natsu's voice loudly exclaims, shattering the silence.

"Natsu, shut up!"

Ice _—_ of course _—_ heard them, his head whipping toward the sound. His eyes shift into a glare as soon as he sees Lisanna.

"Shit! He saw us!" she doesn't whisper this time.

"A trespasser peeking in through a window?" Ice growls. "Typical..."

"HELP!" I call out, knowing this is my chance. "JUVIA IS UNABLE TO USE HER MAGIC! HELP!"

"Shut UP!" he commands, turning his attention back to me.

Ice gets up from his chair so quickly that his chair is knocked over, and he runs over to me. He roughly grabs me, swinging me up off the bed bridal style.

"I gotta get you out of here."

"Put Juvia down!" I yell, trying to struggle but his grip on me is too strong.

"OI! LET HER GO YA' BASTARD!" I hear Gajeel bellow.

The air is suddenly rent by the sound of breaking glass. Glittering fragments shower the ground in sharp silvers, and I just barely see a fist shooting out, punching Ice in the face. The pajama clad man falls to the floor, holding his now bleeding nose with his hands.

Strong arms stop me from hitting the floor, and I turn my head up to see Gajeel holding me. He tears the ropes from me effortlessly, and then sets me down. I rub my sore wrists, before smiling at him. "Thank you, Gajeel..."

"Don't mention it," he grunts, before turning his attention back to Ice. The latter has a stony glare carved into his dark eyes, and is clearly unhappy. The others pile into the tree house, careful to avoid the glass shards on the ground.

"Aqua! Snap out of it already!"

"Juvia has already told you, Juvia is not Aqua! Juvia is Juvia!"

"These freaks brainwashed you or something! Come back!"

"Listen, didn't you see Gray and notice he looked exactly like you? Well, you're not Gray, and Gray's not you. The same case is with Juvia and this Aqua person you're talking about. So just please stop trying to take Juvia, because she's not who you think she is," Levy attempts to explain to him.

Ice tries to get up off the floor, but Laxus places a foot down on his chest.

"Shut up!" he hollers. "And get off of me you-!"

"He's not going to listen," Rogue speaks up from close by. I almost jump, not even noticing his shadowy presence here until he spoke.

"No shit," Laxus keeps his foot in place. "Find something to tie him up."

Erza takes the curtains off the window and begins utilizing them to tie Ice's wrists and ankles together, but he won't cease squirming.

"Could someone hold him still?" Titania seems to be getting annoyed.

Natsu goes over and holds Ice's ankles together so the requip mage can bind them.

"Dammit, I said GET OFF!"

Almost immediately after Ice has screamed that, a powerful blast of energy is released from him. Bright as a fallen fragment of the sky, it sends everyone flying into the walls of the house.

I'm dazed from the attack, and it seems like the others are as well, but I can still feel Ice picking me up his arms once again.

"All of you better fucking listen when I say that you won't take her from me!" he snarls. "I mean it! If you ever try to come near us again, I will not hesitate to kill you this time!"

He doesn't waste another second as he dashes out of the tree house as fast as he possibly can. It takes me a few moments before I find myself able to struggle against his hold again.

"Cut it out, Aqua!"

"No! Juvia has told you time and time again! Juvia is not Aqua! Juvia is-!"

All of the sudden, Ice comes to an abrupt stop and drops me to the ground.

"You know what? If you want to have this fight, then so be it!" he growls, getting into a stance. "If beating some sense into you is what it takes then don't expect me to go easy on you!"

I quickly roll out of the way as he attempts to attack me. I get to my feet, only for Ice to unleash another blast of energy, which causes me to slam into a nearby tree.

"Agh!"

Before I can escape, I feel a hand grip my neck, holding me in place.

"You haven't used any of your abilities...are you _that_ dedicated to this charade?"

Grabbing onto his wrists with both hands in attempt to pry them off, his grasp proves to be stronger than expected.

"Give it up already, Aqua. You've lost, and this is really getting old."

"J..Juvia...is not...AQUA!"

Summoning up my strength, I hit Ice with a high-pressured jet of water which knocks him from me. I inhale deeply, gasping for breath as I peer at Ice. My former captor is now flat on the ground, groaning softly.

"JUVIA IS JUVIA! And no one else!"

He props himself up on his elbows and stares at me with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Water magic? But how is that possible? For as long as I've known you, you've never..."

Ice's voice trails off silence, only for his eyes to go wide a few moments later.

"So all along, you were telling the truth...?"

Without even apologizing for his actions, he disappears in a similar way the other dream people teleported. And go figure, as my friends were just arriving upon me.

"Juvia! Are you alright?"

"Where did that other ice prick go?!" Natsu demands, looking around.

"Juvia is fine, and he disappeared," I reassure them. "Juvia doesn't think that he'll bother us anymore."

"What makes you so sure?"

"He realized that Juvia was not Aqua when Juvia used her magic against him."

"Are you sure about that?" Sting seems doubtful as well. "He seemed _really_ stubborn."

"He was, but trust Juvia."

It's then that I notice something _—_ or rather, the lack of something. "Where is my beloved?"

"Gray is...uhh..." Lisanna seems reluctant to speak.

"Gray-sama is what?"

"Gray...is...with the other you...and he's alone with her..."

"WHAT?!"

"We didn't know that it wasn't y-!"

I don't hesitate as I turn and start sprinting through the forest as fast as I possibly could.

"Hey, wait for us!"

"Don't worry, Gray-sama!" I yell as I run. "Juvia is coming!"

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	28. Chapter 27: Blossoms in the Water

**Nobody POV**

* * *

 _This guy is heavy...good thing I'm almost out of the forest._

Aqua thinks to herself, sighing as she continues to port Gray through the woods. The forest is lifeless and foreboding, but there's peace in its sullen ambiance. Her eyes flicker over the thick, dark trunk of a tree that rises steadily into the sky, its branches interlocking with its neighbors like giant's arms linked together, protecting their home. The trees are densely packed together, leaving just enough space to allow someone to maneuver through them.

 _It's only a little bit further. Then only a simple forward march to the island...and my prize._

The excitement of that thought buoys her high-strung temperament like a tonic, her lips curling up into a smile. Aqua has switched to carrying the ice mage on her back a while ago, seeing as she could no longer hold him bridal style.

 _I might have to swim, but that'll be a fair trade-off for the reward I'll get when I hand this dirty intruder over to Master._

Suddenly, she begins to feel Gray stir, showing that he is regaining consciousness.

 _No, no, no!_ _Come on, not yet!_

"Ugh..." he moans, cracking his glazed eyes open.

"Shhh...it's okay..." Aqua hushes, before quietly starting to sing. The melody is eerie, yet soothing in an odd way.

"Sofðu nú svínið þitt,

svartur í augum.

Farðu í fúlan pytt,

fullan af draugum..." (translation is at end of the chapter)

Aqua continues to tacitly whisper to him as she walks, in hopes that Gray will fall back into repose.

And it almost works.

That is, until a vociferous noise rings out from the forest.

"GRAY-SAMAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Huh...wh-wha...?"

"No, no, no...shh...it's okay..." she goes on hastily as she looks around for any sign that her pursuer is nearby. "It's just your imagination...go to sleep, everything will be fine..."

"GRAY-SAMA!" the scream sounds a lot closer this time. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"That's...Juvia...why...she yelling...?"

Before Aqua can open her mouth to shush Gray once again, Juvia appears in her field of vision and immediately starts making a mad dash towards them. There is a daunting expression on her face, one that is ready to kill.

"GRAY-SAMAAAA! PUT HIM DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

"Shit!"

Aqua barely has time to react as Juvia socks her in the jaw, the force knocking her from her feet.

"Gray-sama! Are you hurt?!" the water mage drops down and holds the ice mage in her arms. "Speak to Juvia!"

"M' fine...my...my head jus' hurt...really bad..."

Aqua sits up and looks at the two of them just as the others have caught up with Juvia, appearing to be exhausted.

"Damn...you...you run fast..." Sting wheezes in between breaths, clutching his knees as he bends over.

"Juvia will run at the speed of light to save Gray-sama," Juvia responds as she glares at Aqua, the latter returning the look.

"Damn you...! I was so close! If you hadn't gotten in the way, then it would be one less filthy, wretched trespasser to deal with, and a dream come true for me!" Aqua yells.

"Did you just call Gray-sama a filthy...wretched...trespasser?"

"Oh, believe me! That's not the worst thing I could call him, or any of you for that matter! He's an intolerable miscreant from the real world just like the rest of you! He doesn't even have any good magic! Hell, Ice is a better Gray than him and he will always be! As far as I'm concerned, _your's_ is nothing more than an annoying pebble in a shoe instead of a thorn in the side like the rest of you. He's just like a pebble, too! Small, worthless, irritating, and ugly!"

Juvia goes ominously silent as her body quakes visibly. Slowly, very slowly, she rises from her crouching position. Her fists are clenched tightly, and a baleful vibe emits from her in waves.

"Juvia, just...just calm down, alright?" Mirajane tries to console her, unease seeping into her voice. "I'm sure she didn't mean any of that."

"I meant _every word_ of that!" Aqua snarls. "And I'll never regret saying it!"

"How dare you..."

"How dare I what? Tell the truth?"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THOSE THINGS ABOUT MY GRAY-SAMA!"

"Juvia, don't!"

"WATER SLICER!"

All rational thoughts in Juvia's head are obscured with wrath, as is the sun with cloud. Crystalline liquid forms at her fingertips as she directs her attack at her look-alike. And with how much power Juvia puts behind it, it seems like it will surely kill the latter. Aqua screams, her arms shooting up in an attempt to defend herself from Juvia's heated onslaught.

But the attack never comes.

"H-huh?"

Lowering her arms, Aqua's eyes widen in sheer terror at the sight before her.

"ICE!"

Ice is lying on the ground with a lurid wound in his chest, stretching down to his stomach and is oozing with blood. Organs can be seen poking out from the wound, despite his best attempts to cover them with his arms. Just before Aqua was hit, Ice had appeared and thrown himself in front of her. Looking over at her, the young man smiles weakly.

"I found you, Lotus..." he coughs, blood flying from his mouth. Real blood is nothing like movie blood, just as real death is nothing like movie death. There is no amount of horror that can prepare a person for seeing the life ebb from another, the hopelessness, the tearing at the soul that is the departing of the other. And that is exactly how it is for Aqua in this moment.

Aqua, now revealed as Lotus, slumps down next to him.

"I...Ice! Oh...oh my Master!" she's in shock, a mortified expression on her face. "I...I don't...how will we be able to fix this?"

"Ah...it's alright...I'm just glad you're unharmed...you _are_ unharmed, a-aren't you?"

"Who cares about me?! Just please hang on! I-I can stop this! I can heal this, I can save you!"

"If you don't know, then how can you do it...?"

"Shut up, baka! I can save you! I c-can stop the bleeding!" she shouts, her voice wavering. Her hands move to press snugly against his wound, yet the crimson flow trickles on. "Then when you're all better, things can back to normal like these trespassers never came here! And we'll be happy t-together!"

"That...that does sound nice, but it's too bad I won't be able to enjoy it..." the smile never leaves his face. As the life fluid drains out of him in its garish red, his skin takes on the pallor of a corpse. "You will, though, and that's what I'm happy about..."

"I can't enjoy it if you aren't there with me, and things will never be the same if you aren't here! I can't pull any of my stunts, and you can't be there to scold me afterwards!"

"Lotus, listen to me, please...I can't...can't hold on for much longer, so listen to me for once in your life and grant me this one last request...can you do that?"

"Don't say that! You're gonna be fine!"

"Put your lips to mine," he ignores her. "It's something that I've wanted for a long time, so please...do it..."

Lotus hesitates for a moment, before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to his bloodied mouth.

"There, I kissed you. Now stop it with all of this death talk, you're going to be fine!"

"I...love you...Lo...tus..."

His eyes slide closed, his head rolling to the side. It is quiet as a sleeping viper as Lotus stares in shocked horror at Ice's body.

"G...Geranium...? Geranium?! Come on! Please, please no!"

The next cry dies in her throat as she lets her body fall to his, desperate to still feel life in his unmoving corpse. The onlookers stand stock-still as Lotus frantically attempts to revive her partner, yet it is futile.

"Geranium! Please, don't leave me!"

It's then that Geranium's body turns into nothing more than a small plushie, lying in a puddle of blood on the ground. Lotus is in a stunned silence as she picks up the toy with trembling hands.

"Oh...oh no...no no no no no..."

She screws her eyes shut, but that does nothing to stop the flow of tears as she cradles the plushie close. Her shoulders are shaking with grief, salty fluid streaming down her already wet cheeks. The noisy sobs echo through the otherwise silent woods. Lotus then doubles over, her forehead meeting the ground in front of her.

"Geranium...I'm s-so sorry...this is all my fault...it's all my fault..."

Mirajane is the first to react, walking over to her and attempting to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

She hastily retracts her arm.

"You...you did this...you all killed him..." Lotus chokes out. "Just...just get out...GET OUT OF THIS FOREST! Get out get out get out get _OUT!_ "

Laxus moves over to Mirajane and ushers the takeover mage away from the implacable Lotus.

"Let's go."

No one argues as they move past her, with Juvia carrying Gray.

"Juvia, you...you can put me down..." Gray is the first one to speak up, his words slurring a bit.

"Sorry, Gray-sama...Juvia didn't realize that she was still carrying you," it seems like she's lying, but he doesn't appear to notice as Juvia sets him down.

Immediately, he wobbles on his legs and nearly collapses. However, Natsu catches the ice mage in his arms just before he hits the ground.

"Come on, put your arm around my shoulder. I'll help you walk," the dragon slayer says, and Gray gives him a look of silent thanks as he complies. They begin to walk, the trees starting to thin as they seemingly near the end of the forest.

The small path widens into a multicolored beach with every size of rock; from boulders big enough to sit on, to grains that get stuck between your toes. Beyond is a flat lake, the shore visible in the distance. In the black watery mirror is only the constellations, starlight so old and young. As they approached the waterline, Sting bends down and skims a rock—the splash loud in the otherwise silent night, and the ripples fading slowly from the poorly thrown pebble. Coniferous trees cast shadows across the shoreline, like trying to conceal them from view.

"That has to be where Lucy is," says Natsu.

"You'd think that with the circumstances, Paw would try to keep Lu-chan someplace more inconspicuous," Levy comments.

"I doubt that Paw has any energy left after having to deal with us for so long," Rogue doubts. "I'm not surprised that she can't move Lucy, especially in her most likely injured state."

"I don't see a way across. It looks like we're going to have to swim."

"Juvia can get you all across," Juvia speaks up.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Why? Do you not think that Juvia can do it?" the waiter wielder looks at her.

"Well, I just thought that you might be exhausted from all that running."

"Juvia has more stamina the you think," Juvia says as she moves to stand waist deep in the water. "But who would like to go first?"

"I'll go," Lisanna volunteers.

"Come to Juvia then," she extends a hand for Lisanna to take.

Lisanna does so, and Juvia uses her magic to will the water to carry the takeover mage to the island. She does the same with the others as well, until all of them are on the island. Natsu complains about the spray of water dampening his scarf, but is cut off when he grabs Gray yet again, who nearly face-plants into the sand as Juvia let's him onto the island. Gajeel laughs upon landing on the beach and seeing this, which in response Gray growls and loudly declares he can stand on his own. He waves off Natsu's support and shoots Gajeel a look, the iron dragon slayer only snickering in response.

"Guess this is it," Erza muses, while Natsu hovers close next to Gray in case the devil slayer needed help walking.

"I'm fine," he insists.

"I know you are, I just don't want you falling over in the middle of battle!" Natsu huffs.

"Whatever..."

"We just have to find Lu-chan and then we can forget that this ever happened," Levy sounds relieved. "I'll be looking forward to that."

"We all will."

Mirajane notices that Lisanna is looking around at the scenery of the island with a surprised look on her face.

"What's the matter, Lisanna?" she asks.

"I recognize the scenery of this island...I've been here before."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I dreamed about this place and it was the reason I went to go check on Lucy," she replies. "I saw her sitting up against a tree in my dream,"

"Where, though?"

"I don't know, but I should know when I see it. Let's get looking."

They begin to search around the island and after a while, they come across the telescope tree. But there's one small problem that takes the form of the absence of Paw's final victim.

"What the-?"

"What's wrong?" Natsu asks, frowning.

"This is where Lucy was in my dream, but she isn't here," Lisanna looks back at them. "I don't see her anywhere."

"What?! So that monster moved her!?" he exclaims, clearly not happy.

"Calm down, squinty eyes..."

"I DON'T NEED TO CALM DOWN YOU NEED TO CALM UP!"

"That makes no sense," the ice mage sighs, rubbing his head.

Before Natsu can open his mouth to say anything else, a white dove flies over and perches itself atop Natsu's head. It gives a chirp, as if it's greeting them.

"Aw, it likes you," Wendy smiles.

"Isn't that the bird which led us to the tree house?"

"It could be, but it could also be a different one," Levy answers. "A lot of birds look the same."

The dove begins to make itself comfortable in Natsu's salmon colored hair.

"My hair is _not_ a nest!"

He shakes his head and the bird flies away, but it doesn't go far as the it lands in front of the telescope tree and gives an irritated look to Natsu before chirping at him.

"Sorry, but we don't speak bird," the fire mage didn't seem phased in the least.

As if the dove seemed to understand him, it lets out one final chirp before it starts to change.

The bird grows in size, feathers morphing into a flowing white dress, skin covering all the body. Talons shift into feet and wings to arms, fingers and toes following suit. Blond hair sprouts from the head and tumbles down the back in waves, coming to a stop near the legs. It isn't that bland color that's just a shade nicer than the white of old age, it's toned-down gold and natural yellows. It gives them some warmth, complementing their pale face rather than making them look washed-out. Eyes the color of deep forest pools stare at them, pupils oddly blown out like that of a corpse. They did not match the expression, however, as a jubilant smile is decorating the features.

The bird has fully transformed into a young human girl right before the mage's disbelieving eyes.

"Sorry! Bird speak sounds exactly like English when you're a bird!"

No one knows what to say as they continue staring at the woman standing before them.

"Huh? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

It's a few moments before each of the Fairy Tail wizards react to her in the same way.

" _FIRST?!_ "

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Any thoughts on the death scene, readers? I put a lot of work into it, and would love to know what you all thought! And the lullaby Aqua/Lotus sang is Icelandic. It translates into:**

 **'Sleep, you black-eyed pig.**

 **Fall into a deep pit of ghosts.'**

 **...Creepy.**


	29. Chapter 28: A Sliver of Certainty

**Sting POV**

* * *

I don't understand why the Fairy Tail mages have reacted like that to this child. I mean, it's just a young girl, and it is more surprising to see her turn from a bird into an actual freaking person.

"Why did you call her 'First'?"

"She's the first master of Fairy Tail!" Gray points at her. "That's Mavis Vermillion!"

"Are you being serious?" I ask, cocking a eyebrow. " _That's_ the first master of your guild?"

"The one and only!" the girl giggles, her hands over her mouth as her mirthful eyes glimmer.

"She looks like a child..." Rogue speaks up.

"Thank you!"

"What are you doing here, First?" Laxus asks. "And why were you a bird?"

"I overheard you guys talking about how everyone was falling asleep, so I figured that you could use my help," she answers. "And I'll get to that in a second."

"Couldn't ya' have just helped us fight instead of being an animal?" Gajeel inquires.

"Yes, but I figured that Paw would increase her defenses and make the task a lot more difficult if she knew I was here. So, I followed you guys around as a bird instead."

"Wait...why would she do that?" Erza, like the rest of us, seems confused.

"It's a long story. But when I was younger and alive, I was one of Paw's victims and we had fun together for quite some time. But it ended when she tried to put one of those enchanted scarves on me," she explains, gesturing to the scarves some of us wear. "When I didn't want to wear it, she tried to pull the same trick but with other objects like rings and flower crowns among other things...there was one time when she even tried a sock."

"A sock? Really?" I ask in disbelief. "Who would fall for that?"

"She had to have been getting desperate but in the end, I realized what she was trying to do by giving me all of these friendship gifts and I even started feeling like I never slept when I woke up. I had to leave, but she wouldn't let me, so I wound up having to fight her. It was actually heartbreaking considering that she was crying about not wanting to be alone the entire time."

I imagine her and a younger version of Paw flailing their hands at each other with their eyes shut tightly as they look off to the side.

"I beat her and the world crumbled around us. Then I woke up feeling rested," she continues. "But when I went back to sleep, I had a normal dream...there was no Paw and there wasn't anything from her realm there, it was just a normal dream..."

"So you had to turn into a bird to be inconspicuous because if Paw found out that you were here then she would increase her security because she knew that you could beat her?" Levy guesses in a quick-winded sentence.

"Exactly."

"So do you have any idea where she's keeping Luce, or...?" Natsu trails off.

"Yes. Paw most likely moved Lucy to her house," she answers. "It's the only place secure enough now."

"Great! So how do we get there?"

"Oh, you can't get there. There's no way to get to it from this place."

"What?! Then does that mean we can't save her?"

"Worry not, there's always a way!" Mavis reassures. "Normally, you'd have to be teleported there, but there's a super-secret ritual that can be performed!"

"A ritual...? What kind of ritual are we talking about here?"

"A magical one of course!" she cheerfully smiles. "Do you want me to perform it?"

"Of course we do!" Lisanna quickly speaks for all of us. "How do you do it?"

"Just leave that to me!" she replies, making a plushie appear in her hand.

Mavis moves around, setting down the plushies of some of the dream people we've met, arranging them into a circle.

"How did you get these?" I ask, picking up the one that resembles Erza.

"I've been collecting them just in case something like this happened. Now please put that down."

I do as she says and put it back. I watch her place the rest of the toys, until she makes a scarf appear in her hands, which she puts down in the center.

"What the-? How...did you get an enchanted scarf?" Gray sounds surprised.

"I got it from a white-haired girl who was all by herself. She disappeared after I took it, so I guess that she woke up," she answers.

"Oh, that's right, Yukino's here..." I remember. "Wait...does that mean that you guys left her all by herself?"

"She wanted to stay and mourn the gate keys that were crushed by her underground observatory collapsing."

I go to say something in reply, but am cut off.

"Okay! Everything is ready!" Mavis interrupts. "Everyone step into the circle and grab onto the scarf!"

We all do as she asks and crouch down by the scarf on the ground, each of us grabbing onto it with one hand.

"Alright, everyone hold on tight and dig your fingernails into it if you have to. Now, is everybody ready?"

We all nod as she steps out of the plush circle.

" **Not in the mountains, nor in the forest**

 **among the void is where it sits in rest.**

 **The echo of bells is what you must follow**

 **or in the house of dreams you will find sorrow.** "

Each of the plushies suddenly shoots up into a sitting position and a bright glow shines from each of them, before we find ourselves moving very fast.

"Everyone! Hold on!"

"What do you think we're doing?!"

The next thing I know, we're falling. For a full half-minute I go downwards at a speed that constricts my throat so that I can hardly draw breath. Then, I hit the ground.

"Argh!"

The pain feels like I was close to having broken a bone, and I lay there waiting for it to subside before moving.

"You think she could have warned us about that?"

"Apparently not..." Rogue, who is near me, sits up as well.

I look around, finding that we are on a floating patch of land in the middle of nothing but pure blackness as far as I can see. Assorted chunks of land are suspended throughout the vast darkness, defying the will of physics. But there's something else sitting on one particular part of land.

It's a quaint house, surrounded by a white picket fence with a gate that looks rather inviting. A small rose garden has been planted in front, and although it has obviously once been carefully planned and loved, it is now riddled with weeds. There's a porch with a rocking chair and a cobblestone pathway leading up to the porch steps. The front door has a large paw print on it, but none of us need to see that to know this is Paw's home.

* * *

 **Mavis POV**

* * *

The plushies burst into flames and quickly turn to nothing more than piles of ashes on the ground as soon as they have been teleported to Paw's house. I watch the beam of light shoot across the sky until I can't see it anymore.

"It's all up to you now...make sure that no one is left behind."

Reaching a hand up I pinch my cheek, causing me to leave the dream world and appear back in the guild where I see it is getting late. But despite that, everyone is still here.

"First!" Freed is the first to notice me. "Where did you come from?"

"Oh nowhere!" I lie to avoid a very long explanation. "I just decided that I'd pop in and say hello for a second!"

I pretend to notice that everyone is asleep.

"Whoa! What happened?" I exclaim, feigning surprise. "Why is everyone sleeping?"

"A monster made Wendy, Lucy, and Mirajane fall asleep, so everyone went in to save them," Happy answers.

"Yukino was asleep as well, but she woke up," Carla continues.

"Oh well, if everyone is up against a monster then they need our help now more than ever," I smile.

"What can we do?" Pantherlily asks. "We cannot enter into the dream world."

"Well, it's obvious that we need to stay out here."

"So how are we supposed to help them if we can't go in there?" Bickslow asks.

"We help the only way that we can now," I answer. "We pray."

"Pray?"

"Yup," I nod. "We pray to the gods of magic for the victory of our friends and we don't stop until they're back."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Freed asks. "What if our friends fail?"

"You can't think like that. Now come on everyone!" I clasp my hands together and shut my eyes. "Let's pray!"

I start mentally praying to the gods of magic for the safety of the others. When I crack open my eyes after a few moments to see if they are praying, I see that they are.

 _They won't fail now..._

I shut my eyes and continue praying to the gods of magic for the safety and victory of everyone in the dream realm.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	30. Chapter 29: Sin and Necessity

**Nobody POV**

* * *

Everyone has gotten up off of the ground after their individual pains have diminished. They then begin walking towards the house, stopping once they reach the front door.

"Here we go," Erza says with determination. "Our journey is finally coming to an end."

"Yeah...we finally get to have Luce back!"

"I don't know...doesn't this seem a bit too easy?" Levy frowns, referring to the unguarded entrance. "You'd think there would be a trap or something..."

"There's probably something inside."

"We'd better be careful then," Lisanna points out, and a few of the group nod in agreement.

"I'll go in first," Titania volunteers. "Be ready.."

With that, the redhead slowly opens the door, sword in hand. Once opened, the mages are able to see clearly inside of the house.

It is a parlor, the walls dark red with sable paw prints on them. The floor is polished cypress wood, shining in the dun light hanging overhead. The faint sound of old vinyl music plays from some unknown source, setting the foreboding feeling in the room. And around the parlor are multiple doors, all different in style.

One is made of cherrywood, its handle gleaming gold. Another is dull iron, a latch its handle. One is pale blue with peeling paint, the handle round and silver. Another is scratched and dented with chipped brown varnish, and it has a brass lock. The door-knob is dulled with age, and with greasy finger marks. There are more as well, each varying from the other.

"And here's the difficult part."

"Not exactly..." Levy speaks up.

"What do you mean?"

"There are twelve doors and twelve of us, so if we split up then we'll be able to find Lu-chan a lot faster," she explains.

"You think that we should split up in a place like this?"

"Well, we've been in here for who knows how long so for all we know, Lu-chan could be only a few minutes away from dying."

"There's no time to lose if that's the case."

"We'll take a vote," Erza decides. "Everybody who believes that we should split up, raise your hand."

Levy, Natsu, Erza, Lisanna, Gray, Mirajane and Gajeel all raise their hands in agreement.

"Okay, now everyone who believes that we shouldn't split up, raise your hand," Erza continues once everyone has lowered their hands.

Wendy, Sting, Juvia, Rogue and Laxus all raise their hands.

"Then it's decided, we're splitting up," she declares. "Everyone choose a door and we'll go through them together on three."

Everyone does as Erza has instructed picks a door to go through. They all put a hand on the handles to the doors that they picked.

"Is everybody prepared for what's on the other side?" Erza gets nods in response. "Good. Now, one...two...three!"

When she has reached three, everyone opens their doors and steps through―only for the doors to quickly slam shut behind them all and vanish into oblivion.

* * *

 **Gray POV**

* * *

I wasn't expecting the door to close like that, so I hastily spin around only to find that there is nothing more than a blank wall.

 _I guess there's no going back..._

Turning back around, I look at the sombre hallway in front of me. The darkness stretches for what seems like forever, deafening and implacable as some elemental force.

I begin to traipse through the shadows, with the only sound being that of shoe against floor.

Without warning, my head throbs, causing me to wince. The pain feels like someone has taken a knife to my skull as I rub my temples tenderly. Squeezing my eyes shut, I will the pain to go away, but only get a loud ringing in my ears in response.

It hurts.

It hurts.

 _Make it stop...!_

The rest of the world becomes detached, and all I can concentrate on is the throe rooted deep in my head. After a few minutes, the headache and the ringing start to ebb, allowing me to gain a semi-clear state of mind once more.

 _What the hell was that?_

I feel like something is definitely going on, but do my best to brush it off. I can worry about it later. After all, I need to focus on saving Lucy right now. I keep walking and walking, with it feeling like the hallway is going on endlessly. Suddenly, the faint chime of bells rings out from my left, causing me to turn. Frowning, I try to remember what Mavis said earlier.

 _Didn't she mention something about bells...?_

Just then, another sound echos out from the darkness behind me.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

I freeze instantly upon hearing the familiar voice.

 _Paw..._

"If someone is there, say something."

"...Hello?" I hesitantly reply, very slowly turning around, the bells all but forgotten now.

"Oh...it's you, Geranium."

 _She thinks that I'm Geranium?_ I raise an eyebrow, my mind going back to my double in the forest.

An elegant, wooden ebony door materializes on the wall next to me and swings open soundlessly.

"Come in and take a seat, won't you? I could use the company right about now."

 _Maybe I can get her to tell me where Lucy is..._

Stepping through the door, I find myself in a room filled with books. Paw is lounging in a chair with what looks like a picture book resting in her hands. The armchair is something like a creamy leather marshmallow. It's the kind of chair that molded around you and hugged you as much as supported you. It is the kind of chair that children love and older people see as a backache waiting to happen.

A fireplace is nearby, its contents bursting with light. It is like a tiny sun, casting long shadows over the rug. The flames curl and sway, flicking this way and that, crackling as they burn the dry wood. Immediately I avert my eyes from the fire, the light oddly searing my vision.

"It's nice to see you, Geranium," she smiles at me. "It's not often that you show up here."

Cautiously, I walk over and sit down in the chair adjacent from hers; said chair is surprisingly comfortable. Inhaling, I mentally gather myself to weave a facade for the baneful monster in front of me. If I say the wrong thing, make the wrong move, it will be my end.

"Well, I just decided to stop by and see how you were doing," I greet her, keeping my voice as level as possible. "Lotus said that she'd watch out for the trespassers while I was gone."

"Really now?" she asks, and I nod in response. "Well, that's just wonderful to see her following your orders."

"If you don't mind me asking, Master," I internally cringe when I call her that. "What are you reading there?"

"Hm? Oh, this?" she glances down at her book. "It's just a story that I wrote a long time ago."

"You write stories?"

"Yes, it was a nice way to pass the time. Especially when I was lonely," an embarrassed blush appears on Paw's shadowy face. "But now that I look back on these stories, they're honestly pretty bad!"

"Master, not to change the subject so quickly, but what are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be with Lucy? What if she wakes up?"

"She won't wake for a while, I put a lot more energy into the sleeping spell this time. It maybe wasn't the wisest idea, seeing as I'm low on energy as is," she answers. "But she'll be okay if I leave her alone. No one can get to this house."

"I see. Do you want me to go check on her? Just in case."

"No, I'm confident that she'll stay asleep. Besides, I'll feel it if she wakes up," she replies. "You should probably be getting back to Lotus right about now though, before she slacks off again."

"I trust Lotus to not slack off, but I really do insist that I go and check on Lucy for you," I press.

"You...trust her?" Paw looks at me apprehensively.

"Yes."

"Are you feeling alright, Geranium? I've known you since I created both of you, and never once have you trusted Lotus to not slack off."

Realizing my mistake I internally scold myself, before quickly thinking up something to say.

"Oh, well, I guess that I am feeling a little light headed at the moment," I try my best to keep my voice calm.

"You are? Do you think that you might be getting sick?"

"Possibly," I lie.

"Oh, my dear...is there anything I can do to help?" she sounds genuinely concerned for my health, which catches me off guard.

"Um...if you could let me check on Lucy, then I'm sure that I would be remedied."

"How would that help?" she raises an eyebrow.

"I think that I'm just stressed over all the scenarios in my mind...she could be wide awake right now and wandering the house, the trespassers could be in her room right now, or worse..." I attempt unnerve her. "She could be gone right now and we wouldn't even know it."

Paw becomes visibly worried.

"Alright, but you will not be the one to check on her. I can't have you getting her sick if you're actually sick," she sets down her book. "Besides, you should be resting in bed."

 _Dammit!_

"I will check on her myself, you return to your tree house and get some rest. Let me show you the way out."

She makes a new door appear, which opens, revealing that it leads into the main room of the house.

"I'm sure that Lotus would be more than happy to take care of you until you feel better," Paw gets up from her chair and seems to have a bit of trouble staying on her feet.

 _I was so close, too._

"Well? What are you waiting for, Geranium?" she asks. "Be on your way."

"...Right," I reluctantly speak.

Standing up from the chair, I begin making my way to the door.

"Have a safe trip home," she says.

I am about to leave when Paw speaks up from behind me.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to me?"

Grimacing, I slowly turn and force a smile onto my face. "Have a nice day...Master."

She smiles, waving to me as I step through the door. It closes behind me quickly, disappearing and leaving me standing in the parlor of the house. I have absolutely no idea where to go from here, as the only door left leads outside.

"Shit...what now?" I groan. "I can't just leave, but there's no other doors..."

I start pacing, trying to think of what to do and occasionally searching the walls to see if there is a hidden door that I can go through.

* * *

 **Levy POV**

* * *

The door that I have gone through leads to a small room that has quite a few books sitting on wooden pedestals, with the majority of them being coated in dust.

 _What's this?_

I head over to one of the books and pick it up. The book is old and heavy, the leather soft and delicate as I run my fingers over the faded blue bindings. Brushing the dust off of the cover with my free hand to see what's written on it, I peer at the title.

"Volume I," I read. "This must be a diary."

Going to open it, I hesitate. This is a diary, and no one but its owner should read the contents. But at the same time, it's very tempting to see what laid inside.

"I know that I'm gonna regret this later, but it's just too tempting."

Opening the book to a random page, I begin reading what's written there, only to discover that the book is full of unintelligible scribbles—plus a few drawings that look like they were made by a child. It's meaningless as the syllables of an unknown tongue, but one thing in common with most pages in the diary is the messily written name 'Paw'.

"This must be from when Paw was very young..."

Shutting the diary, I set it back down on the wooden pedestal, reading two more to find that they are identical. Picking up Volume IV, I finger the gold lettering carefully before opening the cover, paper rustling as I thumb through the book. Words appear and disappear as my eyes flit across the pages, quickly picking out anything of importance from the jumble of sentences that litter the world I have become immersed in. This diary has a number of spelling errors, but I'm able to read it to an extent.

"Today I made a friend, I made her all on my own and she's perfect. She's been teaching me how to make things with my powers and she taught me that I had powers and she's been teaching me how to do things, like write..." I translate the spelling and grammatical errors.

There is a small drawing of a stick figure and a much smaller stick figure holding hands while smiling. The scene is so childlike that I can't help but giggle.

"She's really nice to me and she takes care of me as well, so she's always making sure I'm fed and happy," I continue. "She didn't have a name for a long time but she took care of that herself, she says that her name is Protea...I like that name, it's pretty just like her."

I flip through the rest of the pages of the book, and it's all about her and Protea spending time together. I set it down and skip to the sixth volume, opening it to a random page.

"Protea taught me how to make a new friend, she said that he can be anything that I want him to be so I did my very best and tried to make him just as perfect as Protea. He is pretty strange, but I don't care...Protea named him for me, she says his name is Sunflower."

I read a few more pages before getting to the back of the diary.

"Sunflower said something really weird today...he says that Protea isn't real and that nothing around me is real, so I'm the only real thing and everything else is just fake. I didn't know what he meant so I asked Protea," I read. "She told me not to listen to him and later I heard her yelling at him, I hope that he wasn't in too much trouble."

Going through the pages, I see that they are mostly normal with Sunflower being strange and Protea being parental. I place the book back and pick up the next one.

"Something is wrong with Protea...she's changing. Her hair is turning gray and her face is starting to look like my fingertips after a bath. She's getting worse and worse everyday. This isn't happening to Sunflower, though...what's going on? I'm scared."

I page through the rest of the diary until I reach the end. The paper has a few water stains on it.

"Protea sat me down today and told me that she was getting old. She said that soon she wouldn't be here for me anymore...I thought that it was all just a joke because she would never ever leave me, but when she told me that she would. I started crying and I yelled at her," I frown while reading it. "She didn't yell back, she just told me what death was and that she would stay with me if she could...I hate death...I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"

It is quieter than a funeral as I go on.

"Everything will be okay now...death can't take Protea away from me now...I snuck up on her and turned her into a statue...death won't come for her if he can't find her, so now Protea will always be with me...I'll put her somewhere nice and I'll decorate her with flowers and visit her everyday so she won't be lonely and this way, I won't be lonely either..."

Slowly closing the book, I put it back where it was originally.

 _So, she turned her caretaker into stone when she got old?_ _I can understand not wanting to let go of someone, but turning them to stone so they can't die? Isn't doing that essentially killing them?_

I go to pick up the next volume, only for my hand to hit a invisible wall.

"What the-?"

Looking up from the books, I find that each diary now has a similar force field around it. But my attention is drawn away from that when I glance at the walls.

The word 'TRANSGRESSOR' is written all over the room in dark, scarlet liquid. It's on the ceiling, the floor—it is even on the pedestals.

"What-? Where di-?"

This writing unnerves me greatly, filling my stomach with a nauseous feeling. I'm not sure how long I stand there staring at the writing, but am snapped from my trance when a door appears on one of the walls.

Frowning, I walk tentatively towards it. Slowly, I grasp the handle, before quickly turning it and throwing the door open. When nothing happens, I step through. I'm back in the main room of the house, with Gray there as well, him standing completely still.

"Gray?" I attempt to get his attention as the door shuts behind me and recedes into the wall.

No reply—despondency clings to him like a wet garment as he stands there, motionless. I immediately panic, worrying that something is terribly wrong with my friend.

"Gray, can you hear me?!"

It seems to work that time as he blinks rapidly, snapped from his lethargic state.

"Levy...? Where did you come from?"

"I'd...rather not talk about it," I say nervously. I feel guilty now for reading those diaries. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." the ice mage frowns, his eyebrows furrowing as if trying to recall something. "I...came across Paw who thought that I was Geranium, and I...I tried to trick her into bringing me to Lucy. It didn't work, and now I'm back here..."

"I see...any idea what to do now?"

"No...I've been trying to figure out the same thing."

"I'll join you, then. Two heads are better than one," I say. "Besides, it's not like there's much else to do."

"Alright. Hopefully the others have better luck than us..." Gray sighs, going back to staring into space.

"Yeah..."

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	31. Chapter 30: The Darkest Flames

**Natsu POV**

* * *

I wind up in a dark hallway, and frown at my sudden lack of sight. I raise one hand up, fire flashing into existence in a wash of red and yellow sparks. Beginning to walk forward through the darkness, I use my flames to light the way. I do so for a while, before sighing to myself.

 _How long is this hallway?_ I wonder, feeling a twinge of annoyance. _It's like it goes on forever..._

It's silent as a shadow as I walk, save for the sound of my footsteps.

"I thought I heard the ice prick earlier, and I smelled him, too. But then it just stopped," I speak out loud. "What's up with this place?"

I walk for a bit more, when suddenly the peal of bells causes me to perk up. Looking around, I try to tell where the sound is originating from. Before I can start following in their direction, I am distracted by what sounds like muffled singing. The melody rises tenderly and lingeringly, like a haunting perfume of pressed flowers. It only gets louder and louder the further I follow it, until it seems to be right next to me.

"Who's that singing?" I frown, glancing around. A thought then strikes me, and I perk up. "Is it Lucy? Is she trying to lead me to her?"

Using my fire to illuminate the area closest to me, I can see that there's a wall beside me. The wallpaper of hand-painted irises is grimy with years of grubby finger marks and coffee spills, giving it a dejected look.

"No door? I'll just have to make my own," I grin as I rear back my arm.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" I exclaim as I punch the wall. As soon as my attack collides, there is a cloud of dust which obscures my vision. Once it clears, I see that I have successfully broken a hole in the wall. Another thing I notice is that the singing has abruptly halted.

"Luce? Are you in there?"

On the other side of the now ruined wall is a small room with a figure in it. I frown in disappointment when I spot who's actually in the room.

"Oh, it's just you..."

"Are you serious? You just punched a hole in Master's house!" Dragon glares at me.

"I don't give a damn who's house it is!" I snap. "Where the hell is Lucy?!"

"As if I would ever tell you. Now get out of my room and get out of this house!"

"I'm not even in your room!" I protest, before stepping through the hole. " _Now_ I'm..."

I trail off when I see how Dragon's room is decorated wall-to-wall with framed pictures of Paw. Some are photographs, but most are drawings that depict her as some kind of goddess.

"What the...?" I mutter as I look at them. "What's with all the pictures? You can't even see the walls."

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Dragon is staring at them as well, but his expression is much different from mine. "I'm not much of an artist, but I tried my best."

"What are you talking about?"

"I did my best to sketch her for what she truly is," he responds wistfully. "She's a divine goddess in this world full of illusions. And I am at her side as her right hand man, carrying out her unspoken orders."

I'm unsure what to say as I stare at him.

"The others may refer to her as 'Master', but I know they don't see her like I do. So that's why I must punish everyone who doesn't treat her like the magnificent goddess she is. They would all be dead if it wasn't for Master refusing to let me eliminate them. But she never said anything about hurting, so that's what I do instead."

I'm silent as he goes up to one of the pictures of Paw, rapt as he does so.

"But oh, my dear Master...how I wish that you could see that this world isn't real...you don't need to have this place around you, you don't need the others, and you don't need the dreamers...this life is a mere dream, a fleeting shadow on a cloudy day," he speaks, voice dripping with ardor. "If you would only let me, then it could be just you and I forever..."

A macabre smile spreads across Dragon's face as he gazes into the eyes of the picture.

"It would be so perfect...the Goddess and her only creation...Master and Dragon...Paw and Sunflower...let's be together for all of eternity, and never let anyone get between us!"

"You have issues, man..."

"What?" Dragon averts his gaze from the picture to me.

"Look at you. Look at what you're doing. You're standing in a room, talking to a bunch of pictures like some kind of creep," I opined, crossing my arms.

He just stares at me.

"If you wanna be with her so badly, then what are you doing in here? You live in her house so just go and talk to her. The _real_ her," I continued. "Don't spend all your time talking to pieces of paper about how you wanna be with her forever and all that other crap, because they aren't listening."

Dragon continued to stare at me, and I probably would be unnerved if I actually cared.

"And while you're at it, learn how to share, because she isn't gonna destroy this place just because you want to be alone with her forever. She can't just talk to you for the rest of her life, since eventually she'll get bored."

His eyes begin to shift into a glare.

"She'll leave when she gets tired of you, and then what will you do? If you ask me, she'll probably make new friends an-"

I am cut off by Dragon launching his plush dragon at me, and it feels as if he just hurled a rock.

"SHUT UP! What do you know about Master?!" he yells, stomping his foot on the floor. "What do you know about anything?!"

"What the hell is in this thing?!" I ignore him, rubbing the aching spot where the plush had hit.

"You know absolutely nothing about this world, so don't you dare talk like you do!"

"If I don't know anything, then you don't know anything either, cause you're me," I point out.

"This is a form that I take on just to please those damn dreamers that Master spends all her time with! But you know what? I'm done being you! It's time for me to be myself."

Dragon's appearance begins to change, melting away and transforming. His face turns to that of a man with chin-length golden hair, and vivid blue eyes behind a pair of cracked rectangular glasses. His onesie changes from looking like Happy to looking like a hamster, and the dragon plush that I am holding in my hands turns into a plush sunflower.

"I didn't think it was possible for you to get anymore girly, but you proved me wrong..." I muse, looking him up and down.

"Oh for fuck's sake, shut the hell up! I'm not girly, I'm cool!"

"Says the person dressed like a hamster," I retaliate, before tossing the plush sunflower at him. "And who uses a freaking plushie as a weapon..."

He catches it and holds it so tightly that his knuckles go white.

"Ugh! That's it! I've just about had it with all of you!" Dragon spits, his expression livid. "I'll send each and every last one of you straight to hell! Starting with YOU!"

He bolts at me and I sigh, recalling this exact situation from earlier.

"Seriously? Alright."

I go to hit him in the face like before, only for him to duck underneath my fist.

"Huh?"

"Not this time, pinky!"

He slams his plush sunflower into my stomach and sends me into the hallway, crashing into a wall.

"Argh!"

I look up at Dragon, who is stepping through the hole in the wall. Gone is the ungainly fighting style he possessed before—now, just by experiencing that attack, I can clearly tell his techniques have improved.

"Impressed?" he inquires, smirking. "I've been training my ass off for a moment like this."

"It shows," I grumble, pushing myself to my feet.

"Shut your mouth and just die," he snarls. "I couldn't care less what you think, because in the end, you'll still be dead."

Grinning, I prepare for a fight with this more powerful version of Dragon.

"We'll just see about that," I say, my fists igniting with flames. "Let's do this!"

I throw a punch while Dragon swings his plush sunflower once again, beginning the battle between the two of us.

We wind up going back and forth from his room to the hallway a few times until we find ourselves remaining in his room. My fire burns quite a lot of the pictures, too.

"Master!" Dragon cries as the pictures go up in flames.

I take this chance to deliver a hard punch to his face, which causes him to stumble backwards.

"What's the matter, Dragon?" I taunt. "Had enough?"

"Oh, I haven't even had a little bit...you'll pay for this with your life!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Dragon sprints at me once again, attacking with a lot more pressure this time around. I am forced to dodge the attacks because I just can't find an opening.

 _If I can't land a hit, then I'll have to use other methods._

I take a deep breath as I continue to dodge.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

My opponent barely has any time to react as the fire from my mouth blasts him across the room, slamming him into the wall. His form is charred, and he sits slumped against the now fractured wall.

"Aren't you gonna get up?" I ask after a second. "What're you waiting for?"

There's no response from him, so I stride over and start trying to get him to wake up through patting his head.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

He still isn't talking, so I grab his shoulders and begin shaking him.

"Oi! Say something!"

I shake him for a few more seconds before something happens. Dragon turns into a small plush version of himself in my hands, and I find myself staring at it.

"Sorry about that..." I apologize after a beat. "This would've ended a lot better if you hadn't attacked me."

Going over to the bed, I place the toy of Dragon down on it.

"I wouldn't have roared and you would still be a person instead of a plush," I speak. "So I'm sorry."

Spinning around, I head towards the gaping hole in the wall.

 _Back to the never-ending hallway...wish I could just find Lucy and get out of here already._

As if on cue, the hole in the wall repairs itself and a door appears, but I assume that it leads back to the hallway so I don't think much of it.

I open the door and step through, only to find I have ended up back in the main room of the house. Nearby, I spot Levy and Gray talking about something.

"Levy? Gray?"

"Natsu?" Levy notices me. "Where did you come from?"

"I walked through the door," I answer.

"What door?" Gray asks.

"Are you blind? The one right behind-" I turn around, only to find that it's gone. "What?! It was there just a second ago!"

"It vanished," Levy tells me. "They did that for ours too."

"Ugh...this place doesn't make any sense. Disappearing doors, unending hallways...it's so confusing," I cross my arms. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Well, for starters, calm down because getting mad won't help anything," Gray frowns at me. "And we were just trying to figure that out before you came in."

"Have you tried smashing the walls?" I suggest.

"We want to be quiet so Paw doesn't realize that we're here, Natsu," Levy argues. "If we're too loud, then she'll discover us."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"We're thinking about it, dragon breath," Gray rolls his eyes. "So either shut up or help out."

"You wanna go, popsicle pants?" I taunt, striding over and pushing him roughly into a wall in our usual fighting manner. Gray shoots me a cocky smirk as he moves back from the wall towards me, before letting out a sudden hiss as one hand darts up to clasp his head. The eagerness fades from his eyes, leaving them bleak as a winter sky after sunset.

"What's the matter, giving up already?" I joust. But upon getting no response, I frown. "Hey, stripper, you alright?"

"M' good..." he mumbles, rubbing his head for a second before dropping his hand and meeting my eyes. "Anyways...let's just focus on finding Lucy right now..."

That doesn't do anything to curb my concerns, but I oblige nonetheless. All the same, I keep a close eye on my rival as the three of us discuss our next course of action.

* * *

 **Lisanna POV**

* * *

The door that I have gone through brings me to a backyard area, where I stand on a tarnished stone path and look out over a yard.

 _Wow...this place is so nice..._

The backyard is spacious, with a neat white picket fence surrounding it. Grass grows that is short like a bowling green, interspersed with weeds and different flowers. There's a large tree in the far end of the yard, with an old-looking swing hanging from its branches. Like a jellyfish on the seashore, the swing's weathered wood hangs motionless from fraying threads.

 _Wait a second...what's that?_ I frown, narrowing my eyes to get a better look. There is a silhouette that looks like a person underneath the shade of the tree, standing atop a pedestal. But I'm not able to tell if it's an actual person or not.

"Hello?" I call out, trying to get their attention.

There is no response, so I move closer to them―only to discover that it is actually a statue. Said statue is in surprisingly good condition, the figure of an old woman. The sweet, almost sickly, smell of flowers cuts through the soft scent of the grass, and I look down to see varied flowers piled around the pedestal.

"Oh. It's just a statue."

I notice that there's a plate on the pedestal that the statue is set on, so I crouch down to get a closer look. Words are etched into the bronze metal, and due to how well-kept the statue is I can effortlessly make out what it says.

"'The Best Mother Who Ever Lived, Protea'," I read the plate. "'She was so Great that Even Death Couldn't Steal Her Away'."

I frown as I stand back up and gaze at the statue.

 _So this is some kind of memorial?_ _If it is, then why does it say that 'death couldn't steal her away'? Memorials are supposed to be for people who have died._

I stare into the pupil-less eyes of the statue.

 _Weird...it feels like it's staring back at me._ I shudder. _It's so lifelike, too...it's almost as if it could move at any...moment..._

Continuing to stare into the eyes of the statue, I slowly begin to reach out.

"I wonder if it's actually..." I touch the statue's stone hand and wrap my fingers around it, my eyes going wide at the feeling.

"It's...warm? How is it warm? This is a statue in the shade, it should be cold."

I continue holding the statue's hand, trying to dissect the reason behind the stone's warmth.

 _Paw...has...forgotten..._

I flinch and quickly retract my hand, my eyes searching around me.

"Who said that?" I can't figure out where the voice has come from, before frowning. "Was it...the statue?"

I reach out again slowly, and grasp the statue's limb.

 _Paw...has...forgotten..._ The voice repeats, and I realize that they are vocalizing telepathically.

"Forgotten what?"

 _Forgotten...what...I had...taught...her..._

"What did you teach her?"

 _Many...things...but...friends come and...go...but will...always...come back...sooner...or...later...true friends...are...the...ones always...with...you...she has...forgotten..._

I am mute, listening to the voice speak to me.

 _She must...remember...or...she must...learn...i_ _f you...love...something...let it go..._

"Do you want me to teach her this?" I ask. "Or make her remember?"

 _Yes...teach...Paw...for me...make...her...remember what...I...had taught...her...her...friends...are...the...ones here...in...the...Dream...Realm...the ones...she made..._

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell her everything that you said," I reassure them.

 _Thank...you..._

"You're welcome..."

 _Now...go..._ They urge. _Hurry...before...someone else...is...hurt..._

I nod and turn to head back to the house, but I have forgotten that I am still holding the hand of the statue so...

"I really hope that crash was just my imagination..." I bit my lip, turning around slowly.

To my dismay, the statue is now in pieces on the ground.

"Uhh..."

I scoop up all of the statue pieces and put them back on the pedestal in a big pile of rubble.

"I am SO sorry!" I apologize profusely to the stones. "I didn't- I wasn't trying to-"

I search around for some kind of solution, before bowing to the rubble.

"Sorry!" I apologize once more.

Turning round, I bolt back towards the house, throwing open the door and hurrying inside. To my surprise, Natsu, Gray and Levy are inside of the room, and appear to be having a conversation.

"We can't burn a hole in the wall, either..." Levy sighs.

"Why not?" Natsu whines.

"Because fire spreads, and don't you think that she would smell the smoke?"

"Worth a- oh, hey Lis!"

"Hi," I greet him.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Levy frowns, apparently concerned. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" I lie, feeling guilty. "What are you guys doing?"

"Oh well, we're just trying to figure out what to do, but this idiot is getting us nowhere," Gray nods his head towards Natsu.

"Shut up, freezer brain..." Natsu glares at the ice wizard. "At least I'm suggesting ideas..."

"Bad ideas..."

"Why you-!"

The two of them begin to argue, which I find odd, expecting them to get into their usual full-out brawl. I brush it off as nothing, Levy just shaking her head at them before turning her attention onto me.

"Do you want to lend me a hand in figuring out what to do?" she asks. "We might be able to get somewhere while they're arguing."

"Sure."

I go over to her and start coming up with ideas on what to do, and trying to get my mind off of the fact that I have probably just killed someone.

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	32. Chapter 31: Demons of Memory

**Erza POV**

* * *

As soon as I step through the door, darkness comes like the thick velvet curtains of the theater. It is black as a crow, so dark that I can scarcely see the floor on which I stand. I frown, my ears picking up the sound of the door closing.

 _Why is it so dark in here?_ _I can't see anything._

As if on cue, multiple small flames burst to life around the room. The dim lighting the fire provides reveals the source of the flames is from candles. The candles give far less illumination than the meanest of electrical light bulbs, yet it is all my eyes can take. By the flickering yellow the room is dark, the walls discernible but the colors so muted that they are almost gray. However, the little range of the candles still leaves most of the room in darkness.

"Hello? Is somebody there?" I call out. "Who is lighting these candles?"

I get no response, but feel an unseen force around me that beckons me deeper into the room.

 _It seems like I have no other choice._ _I can't exactly go back the way I came._

I walk deeper into the shadows, with the candles continuing to light themselves around me. But unfortunately, the meager flames don't illuminate much more than a foot or so. Beneath my feet the wooden floor feels soft, not as much as a carpet, but not right for oak planks. I advance onward before my foot hits something.

"Hm?"

Cautiously reaching out in front of me, my hands come into contact with a fabric material. I'm able to make out that it is a tablecloth, and upon exploring more with my hands I can feel a vase of flowers set at the table's center.

"What is this?"

The self-lighting candles catch up with me and light up lambent candles placed on the table, allowing me to see a stained glass portrait built in a wall. The picture depicts a red haired woman in a plain gown holding a sword, and there is an argent plaque underneath the picture.

"Guardian of The Dream World," I read it. "Zephyranthes."

My eyes widen when I see the familiar name.

"This is...this is a memorial..." I realize, my body going stiff. "For her...for Knight..."

As soon as her name exits my lips, the room gets colder and I hear hushed voices around me. Immediately, I spin around, sword at the ready to strike out, but there's nothing behind me.

"Who's there?" I demand, brandishing my blade. The whispers progress, and I can make out that they're all saying the words 'it's her'.

"It's...me," I awkwardly repeat.

The voices suddenly change to 'murderer' and 'culprit' in angered tones.

"Wh-what?"

The voices continue, and I'm able to see the shadows of the room starting to beleaguer me.

"I-I..." I'm not sure what to say, as it's true what they are accusing me of. As the shadows grow closer, I begin to tremble as the voices get louder. "I..." I'm unable to find my voice as the images of their bodies come into my head. "It...it's true..."

Looking down, I stare at the floor beneath me.

"It's all true...I killed her...I killed them all...I'm a murderer..."

I drop down to my knees as darkness consumes the light of the candles.

" **PUNISHMENT!** " The voices suddenly shriek as one.

I brace myself as the shadows lunge at me, and just then a different voice shouts from behind me.

"Leave her alone! She's innocent!"

Looking up, I see a scarlet-haired woman standing near me. She's as beautiful as the dawn, dominant as the sun. Something divine seems to cling around her, like some subtle vapor. She wears a silvery-white gown made of satiny fabric, long and loose. A semicircular, high collar made of silk-like materials heads the ankle-length robe. The woman walks as lightly as an acrobat, stopping in front of me. She looks around with savage determination in her eyes, the shadows hissing at her.

"Zephyranthes, Zephyranthes..."

"She didn't kill anyone! Now back!" she orders ascetically. "Back I say, or I'll banish you myself!"

The darkness hastily retreats, the candles in the room lighting back up. She lets out a sigh of relief, before glancing down at me.

"Hey, are you alright?" she inquires, crouching down to meet my eyes. I note that her face would look exactly like mine if it wasn't for the splash of freckles around her nose.

"Knight..." I breathe, shocked to see her again.

"That isn't exactly an answer, but okay," Zephyranthes smiles. "It's good to see that your mission to save everyone is going well."

"Why...why did you protect me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Everything that they were saying was true," I confess. "I'm a murderer...I killed you and your friends who had been looking for you...I deserve punishment."

"What? You aren't a murderer."

"But I..."

"Come with me for a second," she says, extending her hand to me. "Come on, stand up."

I get up just like she asks and she moves out of the way so I can see the stained glass portrait of her.

"Now...I want you to look at that picture and tell me what you see..." Zephyranthes coaxes.

"You," I answer immediately.

"Who's you?" she teases, and I sigh.

"I see Zephyranthes, Guardian of the Dream World."

"And?"

"And the first person that I killed," I continue.

"The first person that you killed? That's funny...do you want to know what I see?"

I wordlessly nod.

"I see Zephyranthes, Guardian of the Dream World," she repeats what I have said. "And someone who was freed from their life of pain and remorse by a kind soul who was only doing what was right."

"What?"

The candles go out once more, and when they relight, new glass portraits are in front of me. I cannot recognize them, so I assume they are Speed, Plant, Card, and Snake in their true forms.

"Now look at these portraits and tell me what you see," she instructs.

"I don't see what you're trying to-"

"That isn't an answer."

"Fine...I see four more portraits of people that I killed."

"Well, I see the portraits of my four friends...Calendula, Forsythia, Primula and Cyclamen..." Zephyranthes says softly. "Not murdered by you, but murdered by me instead."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that you didn't kill anyone; especially not them," she tells me. "You didn't kill me because you set me free from my regrets and my pains. And you didn't kill them, because I possessed you and used your body to kill them myself."

I am silent.

"You didn't kill anybody and if you still think that you did, well...that's just plain stupid. You need to tell yourself that. You need to tell yourself that you never killed anyone."

"I never killed anyone..." I mumble.

"Louder," she goads.

"I never killed anyone," I repeat.

"Louder."

"I never killed anyone!"

"Louder!"

"I never killed anyone!"

"LOUDER!" Zephyranthes orders. "COME ON, SCREAM IT SO LOUD THAT THE REAL WORLD HEARS YOU!"

"I NEVER KILLED ANYONE!" I shout at the top of my lungs. "I'M INNOCENT!"

She smiles at me, and I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off me.

"There you go! Doesn't that feel better?"

"Yes, it does," I nod. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Now go out there and face the world as an innocent woman."

After that, Zephyranthes vanishes into silver mist, and the candlelight spread to light up the entire room. I can see the stained glass portraits for everyone that has died in full now. Beneath each window is a table, and a bouquet of flowers in front.

"Not yet..." I shake my head. "There's still something that I have to do..."

I use my requip magic and make Zephyranthes' plush sword appear in my hand. Moving over to her picture, I set it down on her table.

"May you rest in peace...may _all_ of you rest in peace..."

I turn around and walk to the door, but halt upon hearing the faint but distinct ring of bells to my left. I glance to the side, frowning.

 _Are those the spirits trying to talk to me...?_

Something is nagging at the back of my mind, but I can't quite place what it is. I face towards the door very hesitantly, placing my hand on the knob and opening it up. I walk through, finding myself in the main room of the house where Natsu, Gray, Levy and Lisanna are, much to my surprise. "What are you all doing out here?" I ask in confusion.

"Erza!"

"Yes, it's me," I answer as the door shuts behind me. "Now, what are you doing out here?"

"We all wound up back here," Lisanna replies. "What are you doing out here?"

"The same," I say, before noticing the lack of doors in the room. "I assume that you all are trying to find a way to go?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well then, we'll just have to try our best to find a way. There's no way that we can give up, not after how far we've come."

"Duh. And _I_ actually have an idea-"

"Natsu, we are not burning a hole in the walls," Gray interrupts the dragon slayer before he can finish.

"Well then, why don't you give us a better suggestion then if you're so smart," Natsu challenges, and Gray glares at him.

"Both of you knock it off and focus," I command, and they immediately stop.

"A-aye ma'am!" the two stutter, sweating nervously. My eyes drift over the walls of the room, studying them closely.

"Any idea on what to do, Erza?" Lisanna asks, but my attention is on the walls.

I go over and knock on a few of them to see if any are hollow but to my surprise, none of the places that I knock are hollow and instead they sound solid.

"It looks like even if we could put a hole in the wall, it wouldn't have any result," I speak after I'm finished. "These walls are solid so it obviously seems like this place doesn't follow any sort of logic."

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Levy frowns.

"We'll have to wait for the others and hope that they have better luck than we do."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then I don't know, but we shouldn't think like that," I reply. "We have to have hope that our friends can find Lucy."

"If that's the case, then what should we do in the meantime?"

"How about this?" Levy starts, before glancing around. "I Spy with my little eye..."

We all begin a game of I Spy to pass the time, as we hope that the others will be able to find Lucy.

* * *

 **Juvia POV**

* * *

The door that I have gone through brings me to a spacious room with a large body of water in the middle of it. It is too small to be a pool, but it looks too big to be a bathtub. A deep sense of serenity overcomes me as I stare in rapture at the expanse of blue that lays before me. Rays of lights dance delicately across the water, birthed from the underwater lights that both limit my sight and make the view all the more beautiful.

 _The water is so clear..._

Walking to the water's edge, I look into the undisturbed contents; it is as clear as virtue, and gazing at the surface I can see that my appearance is unkempt from recent events. There are some rips in my clothes, and one of my sleeves has been completely torn off. Minor cuts and bruises litter my body, and I can see a large, dark bruise forming on my cheek. I start to run my fingers through my opulent blue hair, attempting to disperse some of the tangles. I then stare into the azure eyes of my image on the surface of the water, studying it.

 _Juvia's reflection is so defined._ _It's like a second Juvia..._

I gaze into the unblinking eyes of my reflection for a moment, before I notice something off.

 _Why does Juvia's reflection look like she has been crying?_ _Juvia has not been crying._

"Maybe someone is beneath the surface of the water?" I speak to myself.

Slowly, I reach out to touch the water, but as soon as my hand dips beneath the surface my reflection's expression contorts.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" my reflection shrieks suddenly. This causes me to flinch, with my eyes widening in surprise, and it seizes my hand and begins to pull me into the water.

"What are you doing?!" I demand as I attempt to free myself from its angry clutches. "Let go of Juvia's hand!"

"NO!"

My carbon copy yanks me into the pool and drags me down to the bottom, wrapping its arms around my neck in a tight grasp from behind. It seems to be attempting to drown me. The water is so cold that it stings at first, before my body quickly adapts to the change.

"Let go!" I command, trying to squirm free. "Why are you doing this to Juvia?!"

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" it screams. I feel its grip tighten around my neck, restricting my air supply. It's trying to strangle me now, as it most likely noticed I can't be drown.

"J-Juvia did no such thing!" I gasp, my fingers digging into my attacker's arm.

"YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME...! HE WAS MY EVERYTHING!"

"L...Lotus?!" I exclaim, realizing who this is.

"WITHOUT HIM, I'M NOTHING! AND YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME! YOU _KILLED_ HIM!"

"Juvia did no such th-thing!" I can't get away, so I press my hand against her stomach. "Now let g-go of Juvia! WATER CYCLONE!"

That gets Lotus off of me, and she slams into the other end of the pool wall. I cough, taking deep breaths of the water as I gather myself.

"You should have known better than to pull Juvia into the water..."

Lotus pushes herself off the wall and shoots me an irate glare.

"You took him from me, and for that you will not be forgiven," she spits. "I swear that you'll be nothing more than a pile of blood and meat when I'm through with you."

She kicks off the wall, coming at me like a torpedo. I quickly swim to the side, allowing me to dodge her.

"Juvia didn't kill him, Juvia was aiming for you but he got in the way," I try to tell her. "It was an accident!"

"I don't care!" she snarls, bolting at me once again.

I dodge and kick her in the side, sending her away from me.

"Even if Juvia had hit you, it would have still been an accident," I continue. "Juvia was upset and acted out of anger."

"Shut up you BITCH!"

Lotus points her right palm outward at me, causing me to become paralyzed. She then sweeps her hand to the side, which rockets me into the wall with a cry of pain. I send a water slicer back at her, which strikes her leg and leaves a bleeding gash there.

"You were the one to make Juvia angry in the first place with what you said about Gray-sama."

"Are you blaming _me_?" she asks shrilly. "Are you saying that _I'm_ the reason Geranium is dead?!"

"Juvia is not saying that, Juvia is just trying to say that both-"

"I am _done_ listening to you! Let's see how your darling 'Gray-sama'," she sneers, "will feel when he finds out that you're dead! Knowing you freaks, he might not even feel a thing! But you definitely will!"

She swims at me and I move up to dodge her again. Swimming upwards, my fingers barely graze the water's surface before a hard tug on my ankle set me smacking into the floor of the pool. Groaning, I blink dark spots from my vision as I get up.

"Killing Juvia won't bring back Geranium!" I insist, still making attempts to reason with my opponent.

"Maybe not, but it will make me feel a hell of a lot better!" Lotus retaliates, her eyes holding nothing but unbridled rage in them.

"You don't know that! If you kill Juvia, then you'll be no better than her! You'll be a killer too!"

"I don't care, now SHUT THE HELL UP!"

 _Juvia can't reason with her. Juvia...has to fight._ I decide as I stroke backwards to get some distance between us.

"Water Whip!"

With that, a battle begins between the two of us, causing both of us to receive quite a lot of injuries with blood staining the once clear water into a faint pink.

After a while, Lotus strikes me so hard that I am sent out of the pool, landing on the floor. I grit my teeth, pushing my palms against the smooth ground.

"Juvia will not give up!" I declare.

Shooting up, I am about to jump back into the water, only to see that something is wrong.

"Huh...?"

The water is placid and clear once again, with not a single trace of blood to be seen; Lotus is gone as well. It's as if she was never there to begin with.

"Where did she...?" I swivel around in search of her, only to take note of something else.

My soaked clothing is suddenly dry as tinder, and my injuries from the fight are oddly healed, too.

"What...happened?"

I glance into the water to see that my reflection is no longer cast on the surface of it; my head is spinning as I attempt to make some sense of this, but no matter how hard I try, I can't do it.

"Ugh...Juvia is so confused..." I sigh. "But she should just forget about it..."

Scanning the room, I spot a door in one of the walls. It is made of metal it seemed, the white paint coating it chipped. I head for the door, not seeing the sign that read 'Pool of Inner Demons' on a wall nearby. I open the door to find myself back in the main room with Natsu, Levy, Erza and Lisanna, but most importantly my beloved there as well.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu demands. "That paw print on the wall is definitely different from the others."

"No, it isn't!" Gray refutes. "It looks exactly like the rest of the wallpaper!"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"I'm not calling you a liar, I'm calling you blind," the ice mage answers, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're like a big pink bat that found its way into a box of matches."

"Why you-!"

The two of them begin arguing profusely, causing the girls to sigh in exasperation.

"I can't believe you're getting into a fight over I Spy..." Lisanna groans.

"For the _fourth time_..." Levy adds.

"Even if it is over I Spy, Juvia agrees with Gray-sama," I speak up.

The girls of the group notice me, while the boys are too busy with their banter to realize that I'm there.

"Oh, hello Juvia," Erza greets me. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long," I reply. "What are you all doing out here?"

"Our doors led us back here and we can't find another way, so we're waiting for the others to find Lucy," Lisanna responds. "Levy suggested that we play I Spy to pass the time, but it's turning out to be more of a headache than fun."

"I Spy sounds like fun," I shrug, before clasping my hands together. "But Juvia prefers watching Gray-sama to pass the time~"

"Then why don't we end this round and let you have a go?" Levy suggests, ignoring the last part.

"Also, make it so that Natsu and Gray don't get a turn since it only makes them fight," Erza decides.

"What?!" there are outbursts from the two rivals upon hearing that.

"Do you have a problem with it?" Titania questions, her tone daring them to argue.

"N-no ma'am!"

"Then why don't you go ahead and take your turn, Juvia," Erza averts her attention back to me.

I nod and observe the room something to spy, silently hoping that the others will find Lucy soon.

* * *

 **PawPrint-Writer(author): Review plz?**

 **RevlisCharm(beta): Notice how everyone from Team Natsu heard the bells? I wonder what that could mean~**


	33. Chapter 32: A Breathless Dream

**Mirajane POV**

* * *

The door that I have gone through brings me to a kitchen; but calling it that would somewhat misleading. It is a room. People eat in it. That is all. In it stands a cheap IKEA table that rocks when you lean on it, two old white chairs from the thrift store and a pair of threadbare orange curtains that lets the heat escape in winter as easily as if they are not there at all. The light bulb in the center of the room is bare and hangs down on its black wire, adding to the meager ambiance of the room. It is the kind of room you eat Kraft dinner in washed down with own-brand pop.

 _Someone hasn't been cleaning..._ I note, looking at the soiled dishes in the sink.

In the corner of the kitchen sits a grotty little refrigerator. It hums as loud as a small truck warming on a wintry morning, and I can almost see it vibrate. Walking closer, I find that there are callow children's drawings on it, held in place by colorful magnets. The paper that's used has become darker with age, and I can't help but smile at the youthful innocence of the scribbles.

Given the state of the outside, I prepare to hold my breath on opening the fridge. There will no doubt be sour milk, stains, and moldy leftovers. Instead when I pull it open, the old seals giving up the door with ease, there is an exorbitant amount of various sweets. Tantalizing candy, rich cake, fizzy beverages and more take up most of the space. The healthier foods are shoved needlessly to the back, yet they seem just as touched as the unhealthy foods.

 _I guess that the people who live here must really like their dessert...a_ _t least it looks like they eat healthy sometimes..._

Closing the fridge, I look about for another way to go. However, I don't see one.

 _Dead end..._ _I'll have to go through one of the other doors._

I head for the door that I have originally come through. I reach my hand out, intending to grasp the doorknob.

"Where are you going?"

Turning around, I inspect the room to see who has spoken. Yet the room is void of anyone, save for me. Experimentally, I call out.

"Is somebody there? Who said that?"

"...Are you going to leave again?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'again'?"

"Did you come back to me only to leave again...? Just to break my heart once more?"

The light hanging from the ceiling begins to flicker ominously.

"Is that you, Paw?" The words sound like hers, but the voice does not.

"You did, didn't you? You came back just to hurt me, because you're just as heartless as the rest of them."

The bulb goes out with a sharp _pop_ , plunging the kitchen into darkness. I blink as I lose my sight, the area around me black as pitch.

"It wasn't enough that you left me once, but then you come back just to do it again?"

"No, that's not why I'm here at all!" I dispute, even though I have no idea what they're talking about.

"Liar. I thought that you were different, that you would actually stay. But no, as soon as they come for you, you leave me."

A dim light comes to life in the back, and I see that it comes from the fridge creaking open on its own; the room suddenly gets a lot colder and the light in there goes out as well. The frigid air penetrates my skin, chilling my blood, sinking into the marrow of my bones like wet concrete.

 _It's freezing..._

"You left me...you left everything that we had together!"

"I had to go, I had b-been asleep for far t-too long," the cold gnaws at my insides like a hungry rat. "It was t-time t-to wake up."

"No, it wasn't; it's _never_ time to wake up. You could've stayed with me. You would have been so happy!"

"I would've b-been happier with my fr-friends in th-the real world!" I retort, my breath clouding the air in front of me before fading like a wreath of mist at eve. The room is as cold as autumn rain as I rub my arms in attempt to warm up.

The voice speaking to me then goes silent for a bit.

"So...are you saying that you weren't happy here?"

"I'm not saying th-"

"What was wrong with this place? Was it not good enough for you? Was my home, my love, not good enough?!"

"I-"

"I tried my best for you, I tried my best for _all_ of you! To make you smile, make you laugh, make you happy. Was that all for nothing? Were you faking it all along?!"

"No!" I blurt out.

"Everything that I did, I did for you. I did it for all of you! So that you wouldn't leave me, so that I wouldn't be alone ever again. But it looks like that was all for _nothing_!"

The room grows steadily colder by the minute, making me shiver even more.

"So, you know what? If you want to leave me, fine. I'll just return the favor."

"P-please, listen to-"

"No, I'm done listening. You better hope your blood's still pumping when your friends find you, because the cold can have some very negative effects on the human body."

"You're going t-to freeze me?"

I get no response from the voice. My teeth are beginning to chatter as the air delves further in temperature with each passing second. Cold seeps into my innards like a freezing fog, making its way into my bones and wrapping around my brain like a wet blanket.

 _I have to close that fridge before I freeze to death...t_ _hat has to be what's making it so cold in here._

I trudge through the pitch black kitchen with my hands groping the air in front of me, hoping that they will come into contact with the fridge. The cold is only getting worse, and I feel like I'm walking for hours although it is only a few seconds.

 _Come on, come on...where is it?_

Eventually, I touch the door of the fridge. Wrapping my hands around the frore metal handle, I attempt to push it closed, but it feels as if someone is pushing against it as I do so.

"What are you doing? Leave that open!" the voice demands after being reserved for quite some time.

"Sorry, b-but I don't feel like fr-freezing to death t-today!"

I shove as hard as I possibly can until the force that's keeping it open can't fight back against me anymore, causing the fridge door to slam shut.

"Ahh...that's better..." Slowly, the room begins to get warmer now that the source of cold is cut off.

I relish in the warmth for a few moments, before my mind is brought back to the thing that had made it so bleak in here to begin with; I turn away from the fridge to gaze at the seemingly interminable darkness in front of me.

"Who are you?"

I get no response.

"I know that you're still there, so don't pretend like you aren't," I narrow my eyes, my voice becoming serious. "Who are you?"

Silence. I start to wonder if the voice is actually still there or not.

"Who am I...? Don't you recognize my voice? Or are you that stupid? Forgetting me so quickly...I'm the one you left behind. The one who's heart you shattered into pieces."

"No, you aren't. You aren't Paw..." I shake my head. "Her voice doesn't sound like that, so who are you?"

There is nothing but reticence yet again. But it lasts a little longer this time, and it's a few seconds before I spot something in the darkness.

"Is that you?" I call out, my eyes straining to make out what it is.

There is the faint silhouette of a person standing there in the darkness; they don't look like a woman, but they don't look like a man, either. More like the shape of a gender-neutral mannequin.

We both stand there in complete silence for a few moments, as if I'm having some kind of staring contest with this strange person.

"Leave..."

The figure turns and walks away from me, making no sound as they do so.

"Wait!" I try to stop them, wanting to know what this...thing is.

I run after them, only to collide with the wall on the other side of the kitchen.

"Ack!"

Not long after, the lights sputter back to life, illuminating the kitchen.

"Where did they-?"

There's no trace the person has left behind, except for the frost on the walls that's promptly melting away now that the room is warm; yet again, you could say that what happened only moments ago didn't happen.

"But...how?" I'm so confused as to what I have just witnessed.

Standing in the room for what seems like hours, I try to make sense of that strange person. I am snapped out of my thoughts when I feel breath on my ear, like someone is leaning very close to me.

"Didn't I tell you to LEAVE?!" it's the same voice from earlier and it spits the word 'leave' like it is poison; it feels like acid on my ear, actually causing a faint burning sensation as well.

Quickly, I head towards the door and grasp the doorknob in my hand. As I twist the knob, I risk a glance over my shoulder.

But there is no one there.

I open the door and go into the main room of the house only to see a surprising sight; quite a few of the others are there as well.

"Juvia spies with her little eye something that is..." Juvia trails off as she looks around, before her eyes land on me. "Mirajane?"

This causes the others in the room to follow water mage's gaze.

"So you got sent back here too, huh?" Gray asks, smiling slightly.

"Yes," I nod. "What are you guys doing out here? And why are you playing I Spy?"

"Our doors brought us back here and we can't find another way to go-"

"I _told_ you that we need to burn a hole in the wall," Natsu interrupts.

"We're not doing that, now be quiet about it already," Erza glares at him.

"Anyways, we can't find another way to go so we decided to hope that the others will find her," Lisanna continues.

"I suggested that we play I Spy to pass the time, but it's honestly getting a bit boring," Levy frowns.

"Then why don't we play something else instead?" I suggest.

"Like what?"

"Hmmm..." I think about it for a few moments. "How about Would You Rather?"

"That seems good," Levy nods, and I smile. "Alright, Natsu, would you rather..."

After some time playing Would You Rather, doors appear on the walls and the rest of our group come from each one of them, the doors quickly disappearing after that. We all look over, seeing Laxus, Rogue, Sting, Wendy, and Gajeel step into the room.

"The hell?" Laxus raises an eyebrow. "What are you all doing here?"

"And where are the other doors?" Rogue asks.

"Our doors brought us back here and the doors disappeared, so..." Natsu trails off.

"We're stuck here?"

"Yes," Erza nods and Gajeel opens his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off. "And the walls are solid too, so we can't put a hole in the wall."

He shuts his mouth.

"I doubt that we could, either, the walls are like stone," Natsu adds. "They don't burn."

"How do you know?" Levy looks at him. "We didn't try doing that."

"I tried while you guys were distracted," Natsu confesses. "But it wouldn't catch fire no matter how long I kept trying to burn it."

"So...the walls are too strong to break, and there are no doors to go through..." Rogue frowns. "What now?"

"I don't think there's anything that we can do if that's the case."

"I guess blondie is doomed, then," Sting crosses his arms.

Natsu lets out a low growl at that. "Don't you say that! No way in hell we're giving up on Luce!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but-!"

"We can't get through the walls, there's only the front entrance left, and there are no hidden doors," Rogue lists off. "Unless you know something that we don't, then we have to leave. There's nothing that we can do."

The inexorable facts close in on us like prison-warders handcuffing a convict. We can't do anything to save the Lucy now; she is damned.

 _Oh my Gods of magic...we failed. Paw won, Lucy's going to die..._ I think, before clenching my fists. _No...there has to be something else that we can do! We can't give up on her! Not after how far we've come._

I glance around at the others, trying to see if anyone else has an idea, but by the looks on everyone else's faces I can tell that they are as clueless as I am.

"It's over...we've failed..." Wendy is the first to speak what we are all thinking.

"What?!" Natsu is the only one who seems adamant not to give up yet.

"Lucy's going to die..." Lisanna whimpers, and I put my arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"Are you guys serious?! We can't wake up! Not while Luce is still here!" Natsu looks angry. "We can't- no, we won't just leave her behind!"

"We can't do anything, dragon breath!" Gray snaps at the fire mage, his eyes a blend of anger and grief. "We lost, she won!"

"We should just be happy about the ones that we were able to save," Sting sighs. "You can't always save everyone."

"Speak for yourself! I don't care what you guys do, but I am _not_ leaving without her!"

"Nats-"

"No! Go ahead and wake up, but I'm not coming! I'll stay here forever if I have to!" Natsu interrupts. "I won't leave Lucy behind! I'm not leaving her to die!"

Before anyone can say anything else, a new door appears in one of the walls. A hush comes over us as we all stare at it in dread and anticipation.

Natsu is the first one to react, heading for it without hesitation. He reaches for the handle, but stops when the doorknob begins to turn on its own. The door starts to creak open, and I can hear my heart pounding in my chest in fear that it is Paw on the other side.

 _This is it...we're going to die..._

The door opens, but instead of Paw's shadowy form on the other side, it is someone who we have encountered earlier.

"Oh, it's you all...I was wondering what that yelling was."

"Primrose?" Erza asks, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Hello, Erza. Why are you guys yelling like that?" he questions, stepping into the room and closing the door carefully behind him. "Just because these walls are thick, it doesn't mean that Paw can't hear you."

"They want to leave Luce behind!" Natsu exclaims immediately.

"There's nothing that we can do!" Laxus hisses at him.

Natsu growls and opens his mouth to yell, only for Primrose to slap a hand over the dragon slayer's mouth.

"Quit yelling before she hears you," he frowns at Natsu, before regarding the rest of us. "I guess it's good that I found you before you left, then."

"What do you mean?"

"I can make a door to Paw's room and you can get your friend back."

"But I thought that you couldn't teleport..." Erza sounds suspicious.

"It's not teleporting, this house doesn't follow any sort of logic...all you have to do is ask and you shall receive..." he tells us. "Assuming you're of the dream world, that is."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Natsu pries Primrose's hand off of his mouth. "Make a door and take us to Lucy already!"

"Alright, alright just give me a second," he frowns.

Primrose turns to the wall where the door he had gone through once stands and clears his throat.

"Excuse me, house...if it's not too much trouble, then could you make a door leading to P- Master's room?"

It is a few moments before a new door appears in the wall.

"Thank you," he says to the house, before turning back to us and moving out of the way. "There, this will take you to Paw's room."

"This is too easy...what's the catch?" Gray asks.

"No catch, just hurry...Paw likes to check on her, so if you take too long then she'll come back," he informs us.

"Got it," Gajeel nods.

"Thanks, Primrose."

"No problem."

Natsu is the first one through the door and the rest of us quickly follow behind him.

We enter into a mauve bedroom with giant stuffed animals sitting hunched over in each corner of the room. There is a mahogany dresser that has ceramic pots sitting atop it, a variety of blue and yellow flowers growing from them. Colorful blankets and pillows are strewn across the floor of the room, and cheap glow-in-the-dark stars are stuck onto the indigo ceiling.

At the other side of the room is a king-sized bed that looks like you can fall asleep on within moments of lying down; there are heaps of furry pillows on the bed and four wooden poles at each of the bed's corners. Translucent lavender curtains are pulled back to reveal the inside of the bed, and snuggled underneath the thick, star-patterned comforter is a woman.

Lucy.

The blonde is laying on her side, serenity plastered across her face as she sleeps. Her hair is a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders, pooling onto her pillow. At peace, her consciousness swirls in the land of dreams, oblivious to the world around her. But...there is something off about her. I can't put my finger on it for a few moments before I'm able to finally realize what is wrong. I look at the others slowly, my face drawing into a worried expression.

"Guys?"

They all look at me.

"Is it just me, or...is she not breathing?"

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	34. Chapter 33: Time to Wake Up

**Natsu POV**

* * *

It takes me a few seconds to process what Mirajane has pointed out about the slumbering Lucy. Like an icy wave, a swift and tragic impression sweeps through me.

 _Is she not breathing?_

 _She's not breathing?_

 _Lucy's not breathing?_

Snapping my head towards Lucy, I sprint across the room to the bed she's laying in. I tear the covers off her body and press my ear to her chest, my mind and heart racing. Sickening panic grips me as I desperately listen for some kind, _any_ kind of life.

 _Don't be dead don't be dead don't be dead...!_

There is nothing. Even with my heightened hearing, I hear nothing.

"Natsu...? Is sh-?"

"Come on, Lucy! If we didn't give up on you then you sure as hell can't give up on us!" I pull my head away from her chest to look at her peaceful face, before slapping her hard. "Come _on,_ dammit! Wake up!"

I put my ear back, but there is still no sound. I'm about to pull my head away again and call for Wendy when something stops me.

"Nat-?"

"Shhh!"

I listen intently, my teeth biting into the soft flesh of my lips.

 _Ba-dum_

 _Ba-dum_

 _Ba-dum_

"Thank the gods of magic...her heart is beating..." I sigh, alleviation flooding my system. The quiet tympanic heartbeat is the only outward sign that there's still some life within the blonde.

"Then why isn't she breathing?" Gray asks from behind me.

Wendy comes over to my side and examines Lucy.

"She is breathing," the young girl confirms. "She's just doing it at a slow pace."

"Don't tell me that there's _another_ monster that we have to deal with..." Laxus grumbles.

"No, she just appears to be in a deep sleep," Wendy reassures me.

"LUCY! Wake up!" I bellow into her ear, but nothing happens. "Dammit...!"

"Paw did tell me that she put a lot more energy into the sleeping spell this time...it will probably take a lot more than a yell in her ear to wake her up," Gray tells us, frowning.

"So what are we supposed to do, then?" I hiss, anger flaring up inside me as I whip around to look at him. "Just let her _die_ , Gray?! If we do, then we're basically killing her!"

A look of mild hurt flits across the ice mage's face as his eyes shift away from me. I feel a pang of guilt for saying that, but I'm too overcome with worry for Lucy to apologize at the moment.

"We could slap her again," Sting suggested after a few seconds.

"How about we all yell as loud as we can at once and then try slapping her?" Wendy suggests. "That does seem like a pretty rude awakening, after all."

"No offense, but that's just dumb," Gajeel grunts, and she looks down in embarrassment.

"LUCY!" I shout, beating on the celestial mage's chest despite Gajeel's comment. "LUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Surprisingly, it works and Lucy jolts awake. She quickly sits up with her eyes screwed shut.

"Ow, ow, ow!" she yelps, batting my hands away. "What are you yelling for, I'm right here!"

"Luce!" I wrap my arms around her in a tight hug. I bury my face into the crook of Lucy's neck, staying there like that for a while. In that moment, holding her, my heart aches for my best friend. After so much trial and suffering, finally, _finally_ I'm with Lucy again.

I breathe in, inhaling the familiar scent of cinnamon and fresh flowers as I nuzzle her gently.

"Natsu...? Did you come in through th-?" she opens her eyes, and immediately seems confused. "Wait, where- how did you- this isn't my apartment..."

"No shit Sherlock..." Sting mutters as I pull away to give Lucy some air.

"It's a long story, Lucy. But to put it in short...an ancient monster called the PawPrinted Dream Dweller trapped you in a dream world with a few others. And if we don't get you out of here, then you're going to die," Lisanna explains gently.

"Wha-? Die?!"

"I know it's a lot to take in, but we're telling you the truth," Erza assures her. "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible."

"How are we going to get out of here?" Lucy asks as she slides out of bed, wobbling on her feet. "I don't see any doors..."

"Uh...hello? We're in the dream realm," Gajeel frowns. "We just gotta wake up..."

"Oh right," Lucy sounds slightly embarrassed. "I guess I'm a bit scatterbrained after being asleep for so long."

"A bit?"

"Yes, a bit," she sighs. "Anyways, how do we wake up?"

"Well, I know it sounds a bit cliche, but we have to pinch ourselves to wake up..." Levy answers.

"Seriously?" Gajeel raises an eyebrow at her. As the others go on talking, I notice that Gray has been silent for a while now. I recall my previous outburst towards him, and wince slightly. Hesitantly, I move over to him.

"Hey..." I start, trying to muster an apologetic look. Gray's eyes dart up momentarily, allowing me to glimpse the dejected hurt and ire in them for a second. His cold fury burns with a dangerous intensity. I never worry about a frequent fireworks and showers of red hot sparks, no, it is these bitterly cold, slow burning rages that threaten to engulf our friendship. I open my mouth again, but am unable to finish my sentence.

"Natsu? Are you listening?" Erza interjects, and I turn to her. "Um, yeah...what were you saying?"

Titania sighs, before speaking again. "We were saying that we're going to wake up soon. You need to pay attention."

I sneak a glance back to Gray while Erza is talking, noting how the ice mage still isn't saying anything. He just goes on staring at the floor, his face void of emotion.

"Yeah, right...right..." I nod in response to Erza, shifting my attention back to the group reluctantly.

"You just have to give yourself a pinch on the cheek to wake yourself up," Levy tells us. "Do it as hard as you can but everyone who's wearing a scarf should take off their scarves instead."

I look at my muffler with a frown.

"I meant the people who have scarves from Paw, Natsu," she adds. "Not the people who have scarves from dragon parents."

"Oh."

"Anyways, we've spent enough time here already. We have to go before Paw comes to check on Lucy," Erza states. "So everyone either pinch yourself or take off your scarf, because it's time for this dream to end."

I reach for my face, the others doing the same, but my fingers are inches away from my cheek when the sound of a door opening causes me to stop in my tracks.

I spin around to see who has come into the room, only to see the sable form of Paw standing there. Her nitid turquoise eyes are wide in shock as she stares at all of us, completely still.

"Umm...hi..." Lisanna awkwardly greets her as I move into a defensive stance. Paw growls, fires of fury and hatred smoldering in her narrowed eyes.

"YOU!" she snarls, her face contorting with the venomous outburst. "What are you doing in here?! How did you get here?!"

"What is that thing?!" Lucy exclaims, stepping back.

"Friend!" Paw's eyes soften when she notices that the blonde is out of bed. "You're awake!"

"That's the PawPrinted Dream Dweller, Lu-chan," Levy informs her.

"What?! _That's_ it?" Lucy sounds surprised. "But...how? It always looked like Lisanna whenever I saw it."

"She has a habit of pretending to be someone that she's not," Lisanna relays to her, voice tinted with spite.

"Shut up! I can be anything that she wants me to be!" Paw spits at the takeover mage. "How the hell did you all get in here to begin with? This place isn't reachable from the mainland!"

"That's not really your business."

Paw growls in frustration at that answer.

"You know what? I'll deal with that later, there are more important things at hand," she decides. "Like getting you all out of my house and out of my life!"

"Oh, that'll be easy," Gray speaks up. "We were actually just on our way out."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, we'll just be taking Lucy with us and be out of your hair just like you wanted," I answer.

"Taking Lucy? Taking...friend?" her eyes widen, before shifting into a glare. "Oh no you won't! You aren't taking her anywhere!"

"Yes, we are!"

"NO, YOU AREN'T!"

"Eep!" Wendy squeaks, trying to stay on her feet as the room violently shakes.

A regnant magic pressure starts to build in the room, and it appears to be radiating from Paw.

"YOU AREN'T TAKING HER ANYWHERE!"

Without warning, we are teleported to the ruins of what I recognize is Yukino's observatory. What once was a nice, tidy room has now been diminished to rubble and rocks, with bits of key fragments glittering on the floor.

"YOU HAVE ALREADY TAKEN SO MUCH FROM ME!" Paw roars. "ALL OF MY FRIENDS! YOU TOOK THEM AWAY, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU HURT IN DOING SO!"

We are transported to Wendy's destroyed palace. Forked lightning, brilliant and white-hot, flashes through the blackening sky. Rain falls in thick sheets of droplets, water seeping through my clothes and chilling my skin. The bone-chilling cold seems unbearable in the howling wind and icy rain, and the sound of thunder rolls through the area as another lightning bolt splits the sky.

"IT WAS NEVER ENOUGH FOR YOU, EITHER! YOU JUST TOOK AND YOU TOOK AND YOU TOOK AND YOU _TOOK!_ I'D GIVE YOU ANYTHING IF YOU WOULD JUST LEAVE US ALONE! BUT NO! YOU WON'T BE HAPPY UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

Next is Levy's book town, the houses now ablaze with flames. Torn-out pages from books flutter down from the malicious sky like rain, quickly catching fire themselves.

"YOU WON'T BE HAPPY UNTIL YOU RUIN MY LIFE AND TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME! I'LL BE ALL ALONE WITH ABSOLUTELY NO ONE! THEN WILL YOU BE FUCKING HAPPY?! THEN WILL YOU SMILE?!"

We are then at Mirajane's castle, the storm much worse with lightning striking the swamp water around us. The remnants of the castle are now veiled in mud and moss, seeming as if they have been there for centuries.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ALL ALONE?! TO FEEL THE ENDLESS VOID OF EMPTINESS, TO HEAR NOTHING BUT YOUR OWN VOICE FOR DECADES!? THEN WHEN YOU FINALLY, _FINALLY_ HAVE SOMEONE, YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD! LIKE NOTHING CAN EVER BRING YOU DOWN! YOU GET TO SMILE AND LAUGH AND YOU ACTUALLY FEEL GOOD FOR ONCE!"

We are teleported to Sting's church, it being completely submerged in the swamp water. We would have been underwater if it isn't for the fact that we have manifested on the roof. The streets lay below turbid water, sickly green-brown like the river, carrying some trash that usually adorns sidewalks. But the water is getting higher by the second, with the rain cascading down like a waterfall.

"BUT THEN, ONLY FOR THEM TO BREAK YOUR HEART INTO TINY PIECES WHEN THEY LEAVE YOU! YOU CRY AND CRY AND IT FEELS LIKE THE PAIN WILL NEVER FUCKING STOP FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE! IT KEEPS ON REPEATING ITSELF OVER AND OVER, BUT I HAVE HAD _ENOUGH!_ I DON'T WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!"

Finally, we are back at the island where we were told Lucy would be.

The wind doesn't howl, it screams. The rain doesn't fall, it is driven, hard, merciless, torrential. The trees do not sway, they creak, bend and moan as their fine limbs are ripped away. The once resplendent flowers have decayed, the grass now a sickly yellow-brown. The sky is canopied in dark clouds that block out the sun, and the lake is dried up to a crater.

"I DON'T!" Paw is standing across from us at the large oak tree, her tirade reaching its end. "I don't...!"

Her eyes shift to the ground and become glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinks, they drip from her eyelids and slide down her cheeks. She bites her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wants to escape from her mouth.

Paw's lower lip quivers as words slowly make their way out of her mouth. "Please…" she begins, yet what follows is engulfed in the tremors before she speaks again.

"I d-don't want to b-be alone again..."

She falls down on her hands and knees, in a defeated position as she touches her forehead to the dead ground.

"Please, friend...I'm begging you...don't leave me, don't go with them...stay with me..."

I'm unsure what to say as I stare at the begging Paw; I turn my head to look at Lucy, and see that she has a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Lucy..."

The blonde doesn't look at me or even acknowledge that she hears me, but I know she's listening.

"What are you gonna do?"

* * *

 **Review plz?**


	35. Ending: Good Night, Lucy

**Nobody POV**

* * *

"I...I can't leave her..." Lucy finally spoke words that no one saw coming.

Everyone snapped their heads towards her, eyes wide with surprise and shock at her answer.

"WHAT?!"

"Lu-chan, you can't be serious!" Levy exclaimed.

"Guys, just look at her," Lucy gestured to Paw. "She's all alone in this world, I'm the only one she has left."

"But what abo-?"

"If I leave her, then she'll have no one. She'll be left completely alone with nothing but a broken heart and tears," Lucy defended. "I can't bring myself to just abandon her here, especially after all that she's been through. She needs me."

"We need you too, Luce!" Natsu argued hotly.

"I know, but..." Lucy trailed off, looking conflicted. She let out a sigh after a few moments. "Listen, we've had absolutely wonderful adventures and I'm grateful that I got to experience every last one, but they can't last forever."

"Says who?" Gray asked, crossing his bare arms over his chest.

"I do. All good things must to come to an end, and this is where our adventures end," she answered. "Right here, in this world of dreams."

"So that's it, huh?" Laxus said after a few seconds of silence. "You're just going to stay here with that demon instead of waking up and coming back to reality?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I really am, but this is it," Lucy nodded solemnly. "This is goodbye."

"But Lucy, if you stay here then you'll-!" Wendy tried to say, her eyes glistening with tears.

"I know," Lucy cut her off. "I know."

She approached the blue-haired girl, kneeling down in front of her and putting her hands on her shoulders. Wendy whimpered, her dark lashes brimmed heavy with tears; her hands clenched into shaking fists, in a desperate battle against the grief.

A lone tear traced down her cheek, and just like that, the floodgates opened.

She wept, tears streaming from her deep blue eyes; loud, heaving sobs tearing from her throat as she hugged Lucy tightly. After a minute or so, they pulled apart and the blonde stood up.

"Just promise me something. Promise me that you'll never stop having new and exciting adventures, and no matter what...you'll never stop smiling, okay? It would hurt me so much to know that I saved one heart, only to break so many others."

"There's really no convincing you is there, love rival?" Juvia prompted.

"No, there isn't." Lucy confirmed.

"We're going to miss you, Lucy," Erza said, her voice sad but respectful.

"I'm going to miss you all too," Lucy smiled softly. "One last hug?"

Natsu was the first one to hug the celestial mage, with Lisanna and Levy following closely behind. The others joined in on one big group hug, before separating after what felt like the forever.

"We'll never forget you, Lucy," Lisanna sniffled, using the back of her hand to wipe tears from her eyes.

One by one, the dreamers began to pull off their scarves causing them to wake up, while those without scarves simply pinched their cheeks. This happened until only Natsu and Gray remained in the dream realm.

"Come on, Natsu," Gray put a gentle hand on the fire dragon slayer's shoulder. "It's time to go, we can't stay here."

Natsu was silent as he stared at the blonde, his olive eyes remorseful. "Sleep well, Lucy..."

With that said, Natsu silently reached up and pinched his cheek. The devil slayer followed quickly behind, leaving Lucy alone with Paw.

Lucy walked over to the shadowy creature that was still in its begging position. She dropped to her knees in front of her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Paw to lift up her head.

"Fr-friend?" she asked, tears still falling from her eyes. "Where...? Where are they?"

"They left," Lucy answered quietly. "I'm staying."

"You're staying?" Paw asked, before frowning. "You...you aren't lying to me, are you?"

"No, I'm not lying," she reassured as she shook her head. "I'm staying here with you. I couldn't bring myself to just leave you all by yourself."

A riant smile slowly stretched across Paw's face before she lunged at Lucy, encasing her in a tight hug as the storm around them began to die down.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so, so much!" Paw was crying tears of joy now.

Lucy was unable to hug her back as her arms were pinned to her sides, but Paw didn't seem to mind. She pulled away from her, keeping her hands on Lucy's shoulders. She stared into the stellar mage's eyes, which were the deep brown of winter trees at twilight.

"I swear that you won't regret this decision in the slightest!" Paw promised. "I'll do whatever you ask of me, and do my absolute best to make you happy for as long as you're with me!"

The world around the two of them slowly began to come back to life until it looked how it did before the savage storm.

"Just name anything and it's your's, friend!" she exclaimed as took her hands off Lucy's shoulders to wipe the tears from her own eyes.

"Well..." Lucy trailed off, trying to think of something. "First, I want you to change forms."

"Oh?" Paw looked surprised to hear that. "Who do you want me to be?"

"I don't want you to be anyone," Lucy told her. "I want you to be whoever you want to be."

"...What?"

"I want you to create a new form for yourself, something that isn't anyone in the real world," Lucy explained to her. "I want you to just be the you that you want to be."

"Be the me that I want to be?" she asked herself. "I...I guess that I could do that."

"Then come on," Lucy got up and pulled Paw to her feet. "I mean, you don't have to do it right now. You can do it whenever you're-"

"No! I can do it!" she insisted. "I just...I just need to think of who I want to be that's all"

Paw went quiet and began to ponder what she want to look like if she were like Lucy, it took quite a bit of time before she came to a decision.

"Okay...I think I'm ready..." she sounded unsure.

Paw shape shifted into a human figure ever so slightly taller than Lucy with skin as pale as snow, her messy dark brown hair reached her shoulders, her turquiose eyes were blank and gave off a faint glow, her teeth were sharp like a shark, her pajamas were a plain white, and an ankle length black robe hung from her shoulders like a cape.

"How's this?" she asked.

"Do you like it?" Lucy asked back.

"Yes?" she was still unsure as she looked over the form that she had taken. "Yes, I do like it."

"Then that's the only thing that matters." Lucy smiled at her.

"You mean it?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "Friendship can't just be based on what one person wants, it's based on the wants of both people."

"If that's the case then can I have a hug?"

"Of course"

Paw then enveloped Lucy in a hug and let out a contented sigh as Lucy wrapped her arms back around the dream monster, but even as she hugged Paw, she just couldn't take her mind off of her friends.

 _I miss them already..._

* * *

 **!~Time Skip~!**

* * *

Some time had passed since Lucy had decided to stay in the dream world with Paw and the two of them were on an adventure through the dream world, they were in the book town currently.

"Who did you make this place for?" Lucy asked as she looked around at the scenery.

"I made it for that blue haired girl, if memory serves me right then I think that her name was Levy," Paw was following behind her.

"You built this place for Levy?" Lucy turned around to look at her. "Why? I thought that you didn't like anyone who tries to take your friends away."

"I had a change of heart when I found her trapped underground," she decided to leave out that she was planning to trick and kill her.

"Oh," Lucy was surprised to hear that. "Well, I'm glad that you saved her so thank you."

"Don't mention it."

The two of them continued exploring the mountains with Paw using her powers to make the path much easier to navigate, but when they were out of the mountains, they were met with rain.

"Oh!" Paw noticed and quickly created an umbrella which she held above her and Lucy to shield them from the rain. "That's better."

"What is this place?" Lucy looked around at the scenery. "Who did you make this place for?"

"Oh, I didn't make this place for anyone. This has been here since I first created this place," Paw answered.

"Why would you create a place like this?"

"Well it didn't always look like this, it used to look really different," she explained. "I guess that I just never got around to fixing it"

"What happened to it?"

"I'd, um..." Paw frowned at the memory of what happened. "I'd rather not talk about it if it's okay with you."

"Oh..." Lucy got the hint that this was a touchy subject for her. "I'm sorry for bringing it up then"

"It's alright, it's not your fault." Paw was quick to forgive her friend.

Before the two of them could go further into the swamp, Lucy suddenly had a small coughing fit which caused Paw to flimch in surprise.

"Friend?" worry was evident in Paw's voice. "Are you alright?"

"I'm," she coughed one last time. "I'm fine."

"That didn't sound fine," Paw frowned. "Are you really sure that you're alright?"

"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure, Paw." Lucy tried to reassure her despite the strange feeling that she had.

"Hmm..." Paw wasn't sure. "Still, let's get you out of the rain just in case"

"But I said-." Lucy tried to remind her.

"I know what you said but let's just go, okay?" she cut her off. "I don't want you to get sick."

"Alright." Lucy gave in knowing that it was useless to argue with someone like her.

Paw put a hand on Lucy's shoulder and turned her around leaving the swamp unknowing that Lucy's cough was so much more than just the symptoms of a small cold.

* * *

 **!~Time Skip~!**

* * *

More time had passed and Lucy was currently taking a short rest underneath the branches of the telescope tree.

"It's only getting worse..." Lucy wasn't feeling very well.

She coughed but stopped just as Paw reappeared.

"Sorry for the interruption!" she apologized as she came over to her. "Are you ready to go on another outing?"

"Actually, Paw...," Lucy opened her eyes to look at her. "I don't think that I can go exploring with you today..."

"What?" she rose an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"I'm not feeling too great...," she confessed. "I think it's better if I just try and get some rest today."

"Oh..." Paw seemed to be disappointed.

"Hey, don't look like that," Lucy tried to reassure her. "You can still go and have fun without me."

"It wouldn't feel right exploring without you though," Paw frowned. "It'd be so boring..."

Lucy opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was more coughing causing Paw's frown to become bigger and her disappointment to turn into worry.

"Friend!" she exclaimed in worry crouching down in front of her.

"I'm ok, I'm" Lucy coughed once again. "ok..."

"You're not ok! That sounded even worse than last time!" Paw's concern for the blonde was only growing with every passing second.

"Listen, Paw... I'm going to be fine," she insisted. "Just go and have fun, ok?"

"Fri-" she tried to protest.

"I'm not going to take no for an answer, Paw" Lucy cut her off. "So either say yes or don't say anything at all."

"...Ok..." she very reluctantly agreed.

"Good now go have fun," Lucy smiled. "I'll be resting right here."

After that, Lucy shut her eyes and tried to get some rest.

Paw stayed there just staring at the blonde until she stood up with a sigh and walked away from the tree.

"No way that cough is going to be fixed with just simple rest," Paw thought to herself. "I need to go get something to help her but no way that I can just leave her here by herself especially with how long the trip is going to be."

Paw looked back at the blonde to make sure that she wouldn't hear her before looking back ahead.

"Come to me!" she whisper yelled so she wouldn't disturb Lucy's rest. "Lotus, Primrose!"

The two were summoned appearing in front of her, Primrose had an unreadable expression on his face and Lotus's eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying.

"Yes, Master?" they both asked in unison.

"It's Paw now, not Master" she corrected them. "I have an assignment for the two of you."

"What..." Lotus sniffed and wiped her nose. "What is it?"

"I'm going to be leaving friend for a while to get something to fix that worrying cough of hers," she answered. "This may take a while so I need you to watch her and make sure that she doesn't get any worse while I'm gone, can you do that?"

"Of course we can," Primrose nodded. "We'll make sure that absolutely nothing bad happens to her."

"Good," Paw smiled. "I'll see you later."

With that, Paw teleported away leaving Lucy in the care of Primrose and Lotus.

Paw didn't reapprear at her house, she didn't reappear in any of the areas, she didn't reappear anywhere in the dream world instead after quite a while of searching, she reappeared at another house floating on a patch of land floating in an endless dark void.

"I don't have anything in my realm that can help, I know that for a fact," she thought to herself.

The house was similar to Paw's in some ways but was completely different in every other aspect, there was even a different symbol on the front door with it being that of a star made up of connected lines, a circle around it.

"Maybe they'll help me" she hoped.

Paw walked up to the front door of the house and reluctantly knocked as she wasn't sure about this, she had never interacted with another monster like her after all.

Until now, she didn't even know that other monsters like her were even out there let alone existed.

"Oh this is hopeless!" Paw thought to herself after a few seconds. "They won't help! I should just turn around and go ho-!"

But just as Paw was about to turn around and teleport back to her own dream realm, the front door opened bringing her face to face with another dream dweller like herself.

"Uhhh... Hi..." Paw awkwardly greeted her. "How are you today?"

"I'm... Fine..." the other dream dweller seemed wary of her. "Who are you?"

"Well I'm Paw and I'm a dream dweller like you" Paw introduced herself.

"Another dream dweller? That's interesting..." she seemed surprised. "I'm Revlis... What are you doing here?"

"My friend is really sick, she said that she's fine but I don't believe her one bit," Paw explained. "I don't know how to fix her so I was hoping that maybe someone else would have the solution on how to fix her."

"Is this friend someone that you created or a human?" Revlis asked.

"She's a human," Paw answered. "Can you fix her?"

"Hmmm..." Revlis hmmed as she thought. "I might have something... Come in and I'll get it for you..."

Revlis's shadowy form moved out of the doorway allowing Paw to enter into the other dream dwellers home, Paw looked around at the interior as Revlis began to search around the room for something with her vivid purpleorbs looking foucused as she did.

"So what's with the human form?" Revlis made small talk.

"Oh my friend suggested that I take the form of someone that I want to be," Paw answered. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"It's not a form that I would take personally but..." Revlis trailed off as she finally found what she was looking for. "Oh! Here it is!"

Revlis turned towards Paw holding an bottle filled with a glowing white liquid.

"What's that?" Paw asked.

"It's what will cure your friend of her sickness," Revlis answered.

"Are you sure about that?" Paw was wary of the potion.

"Of course I am," Revlis nodded. "What's making your friend sick can only be cured by this potion, she'll be immortal once she drinks it so there's no need to worry about her getting sick anymore."

"Immortal? Isn't that kind of overkill?" Paw frowned. "I know her cough is bad but I don't think immortality is the way to go."

"I would say otherwise when that cough is going to wind up killing her..."

That caused Paw's eyes widen in pure shock as her form faltered for a split second.

"WHAT?!" Paw yelled in shock. "She's gonna die?! Why?!"

"You seriously don't know?" Revlis raised an eyebrow.

Paw quickly shook her head.

"Paw, if we keep a human trapped in the dream world then they'll start getting sicker and sicker until they eventually die" Revlis explained to her. "You don't want her to die and you don't want her to leave either, right?"

"No..." Paw answered.

"Then get her to drink this, it'll keep her with you and you'll never have to be alone ever again" Revlis held out the potion for Paw to take.

"What about you?" Paw took it. "Aren't you going to need it for your friend?"

"I haven't taken someone yet but there is this one person that I have my eye on," she said. "I just have to make another potion before I take him."

"Oh"

"Now get going," Revlis pointed at the door. "Who knows how long you have left before your friend drops dead."

"Right," Paw nodded. "Thanks, Revlis."

Before Revlis could respond, Paw ran out the front door of Revlis's house and teleported away back to her own home but before she appeared, something happened.

Primrose and Lotus were standing off to the side of the telescope tree having a conversation.

"I just... I just miss him so much..." Lotus was still upset over Geranium's death. "I don't know what to do now that he's gone..."

"I know the feeling, Lotus" he put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll go away in time and you'll start feeling better... Trust me..."

While the two of them were talking, Lucy began to wake up from her nap.

"Ugh..." she quietly groaned.

Her tired eyes opened up and looked around the area only seeing Primrose and Lotus who were facing away from her but she didn't pay them any mind.

"I don't feel any better..." she thought. "Maybe things will get better if I do go on a walk?"

Lucy began to get up from her spot against the tree.

"It's worth a shot..." she thought.

She got up to her feet and began to walk forwards on shaky legs taking slow steps as she went.

"Don't fall over... Don't fall over..." she quietly said to herself.

Lucy managed to get out of the telescope tree's dim shadow cast by the moonlight, she took a few more steps before she began to feel very dizzy.

"Oh no... Don't fall over... Steady..." she thought.

She slowly rose up her foot to take another step but wound up wobbling feeling like someone had placed a skateboard underneath her feet.

"Don't fall over, you can do this!" she tried to mentally tell herself as she struggled to regain her balance. "Stay up!"

Unfortunately luck was not on her side as she fell over with a thud alerting Primrose and Lotus who quickly ended their conversation and turned to face her.

"Hey!" Lotus exclaimed once she saw the blonde. "Just what do you think your doing?! You shouldn't be up!"

The two were about to go to her side and bring her back to her spot underneath the telescope tree when Lucy spokee up.

"N-No!" she stuttered due to the dizziness. "I'm ok! I can make it on my own!"

Lucy got up onto her hands and knees slowly got up to stand on her feet, she turned to the telescope tree and gave a reassuring smile to the two of them.

"See? I can do it on my own," she reassured. "There's no need to stop your conversation because of me."

Lucy took a shaky step but when she was about to take another one is when she found herself falling once again only this time, Primrose and Lotus weren't the only ones who saw Lucy fall.

Paw reappeared just in time to see Lucy fall to the ground with a thud.

"FRIEND!" she cried out in worry.

Paw quickly rushed over to Lucy's side, she dropped down to her knees beside the blonde.

"Friend! Are you ok?!" Paw was cautious about touching her as she wasn't sure if it would make things worse.

"I'm," she was cut off by a cough. "I'm ok."

Paw let out a sigh of relief before turning her attention to Primrose and Lotus, her eyes shifting into an angry glare.

"You both were supposed to be watching her!" she barked. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Master, I'm sorry but-" Lotus tried to apologize.

"You can't even remember that you're supposed to call me Paw now!" Paw reminded them. "If you can't remember something as small as that then how are you supposed to remember that you're supposed to be watching her?!"

"Paw, please were-!" Primrose tried to apologize.

"She could of gotten hurt, she could of gotten killed!" Paw continued. "She's sick! Anything could have happened to her if she had wandered off!"

"Paw..." Lucy spoke up to try and get Paw's attention.

"But did either of you remember that?! No! Of course you didn't!" Paw continued. "You probably wouldn't even be able to remember if she had started coughing again!"

"Paw..." Lucy tried to get her attention once again.

"I swear the two of you are in so much trouble!" Paw continued. "Once I take care of friend, you can bet that I'm going to-!"

"PAW!" Lucy raised her voice.

Paw's attention was quickly taken off of the two of them by Lucy's voice, her eyes softened as she turned to look at Lucy.

"It wasn't their fault, they were about to help me when I first fell over but I wouldn't let them." Lucy explained to her.

"But they shouldn't have let you get up in the first place." Paw argued.

"They thought that I was sleeping so of course they wouldn't of been paying attention to me," Lucy defended the two. "Besides I'm the one who tried to go on a walk so if you're gonna be mad at anyone then be mad at me just don't punish them, they didn't anything wrong."

Paw was silent for a few moments before sighing.

"I could never be mad at you, friend...," Paw then turned her attention back to Primrose and Lotus. "Both of you can go now..."

"Yes, Master." Lotus mistakingly called her.

Paw opened her mouth to correct Lotus but was unable to as the two of them quickly disappeared after that.

"Ugh..." Paw groaned as she shook her head.

"So how was your walk, Paw?" Lucy asked.

"Oh I didn't really go on a walk." Paw answered.

"Then what did you do?" she rose an eyebrow.

"Well hold on just a second..." Paw held off on telling her.

Paw picked up Lucy and moved over to the telescope tree, she set her down up against it before sitting down herself.

"Comfy?" Paw asked.

"Yeah but what did you do today?" Lucy asked again.

"I went to go get something to fix that nasty cough of your's and I did find it but...," Paw trailed off. "I wound up finding out what was causing that cough."

"Really?" she was surprised. "What's causing it?"

"Ummm... Promise to not freak out?" Paw was reluctant about telling her.

"Why do I need to promise?" she rose an eyebrow.

"Just promise to not freak out, ok?" Paw repeated.

"Paw, what's wrong with me?" she persisted feeling a bit worried.

"I'm not going to tell you until you promise to not freak out, friend." Paw stayed firm.

"Alright, I promise to not freak out," she gave in. "Now what's wrong with me?"

"Well because you're staying in the dream world with me, you're only going to get sicker and sicker until you eventually die." Paw spoke quickly.

Lucy didn't say anything, she didn't even flinch as she stared at Paw.

"...Is that it?" she spoke up after a few moments.

"What do you mean is that it?" Paw asked. "Did you know that you were dying?"

"Yes, I knew." she confirmed with a nod.

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Paw couldn't help but raise her voice.

"I'm sorry but I didn't want you to get all freaked out that I was going to die," she apologized. "Also I was hoping that I had just caught a cold and that it wasn't time for me to go yet."

"Well it isn't going to be time for you to go yet, I got something that will fix you" Paw answered.

"How are you going to fix me if I'm going to die, you can't-,she was cut off by a cough causing Paw to flinch slightly. "You can't cure death, can you?"

"No, I can't cure death but I can prevent it." Paw answered.

Paw pulled the potion out of her robe and showed it to her.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a potion that will turn you immortal, you'll be able to stay with me forever and nothing will ever come between us," Paw explained to her. "We can be together and I promise that it will be absolutely great."

Lucy just stared at the potion in the bottle with an unreadable expression on her face.

"All you have to is drink it and everything will be ok." Paw told her.

Paw waited for Lucy to take the potion from her and drink it but she just continued to stare at it.

"...Friend?" Paw rose an eyebrow slightly worried that the blonde may have died already. "Can you hear me? Hello?"

Lucy continued to stare for a few more moments before turning her attention back to the dream dweller in front of her.

"Paw, I can't drink this" she told her.

"Huh? Is it the way it looks?" Paw asked. "Friend, I know that it may look strange but I promise that it's tasty."

"No, it's not that," she shook her head. "I don't want to be immortal."

This sent Paw into a surprised silence at hearing that, she stared at Lucy with a surprised look on her face.

"You... You don't want to be with me forever?" Paw found her voice after a few moments.

"That's not what I said..." she corrected.

"Well that's what it sounds like..." Paw frowned.

"I said that I didn't want to be immortal, not that I didn't want to be with you," she told her. "I would stay if I could Paw but if staying with you means that I have to become immortal then I can't."

"But why not?!" Paw raised her voice. "Why can't you stay with me? What's stopping you from staying with me?!"

"Paw, calm down" she tried to calm her down.

"No, I want to know!" Paw refused to calm down. "What's stopping you?! Why do you want to leave me?!"

"Because if I drink it and become immortal then eventually you'll leave me!" Lucy gave her the reason.

"What are you talking about? No, I won't." Paw claimed with a confused expression.

"Yes, you will... Just because I'm immortal, it doesn't mean that you are so eventually you'll age and get old... You'll pass away someday and even if I decided to wake up then my friends would meet the same fate..." Lucy explained it to her. "I would be all alone and I would wind up just like you if I drank that potion and became an immortal..."

Paw was in a stunned silence with her mouth hanging open slightly and her turquoise eyes were wide in shock as she processed what she had just been told.

"So Paw... Don't make me drink it... I can't drink the potion and become immortal..." Lucy pleaded. "Eventually I'll be the one who's left alone by everyone and I don't want that so please..."

Paw looked at the bottle in her hand before looking back up at the blonde.

"But if you aren't here then..." Paw trailed off not wanting to think about it.

"Everything will be ok... After I'm gone I'm sure that you'll meet someone better than me, you'll make new friends..." she tried to cheer her up.

"I don't want new friends, I only want you..." Paw shook her head. "But... If you really don't want to drink it then..."

She threw the bottle to the side and it broke against the ground causing the liquid to scatter across the grass.

"I'm not going to force you..." she said. "I don't want you to be unhappy and I don't want you to spend the rest of your life alone either..."

"Thank you, Paw." Lucy thanked the dream dweller.

"Don't mention it." Paw seemed sad that she wouldn't be able to keep the blonde with her.

"Now... Let's just enjoy the time that we have together, ok?" she suggested.

"Ok..." Paw agreed.

* * *

 **!~Time Skip~!**

* * *

Even more time had passed since Paw had broken the bottle that would give Lucy immortality, Paw tried to stay cheerful as she spent what little time she had left with the blonde but it was getting near impossible as Lucy was getting worse and worse everyday.

Now she could barely even keep her eyes open as Paw carried her around piggyback, she used her abilities to make the sky overhead look like a big colorful galaxy with the stars twinkling.

"Look at that, friend," Paw smiled with the blondes head resting on her shoulder. "The sky looks absolutely beautiful, don't you think?"

"Mmhm..." Lucy quietly agreed with a slight nod of her head.

Paw continued walking around the island before coming back to the telescope tree, she walked past it planning to continue showing Lucy around.

"Paw..." Lucy spoke up quietly.

"Huh?" Paw stopped. "What is it, friend?"

"Can we just sit down and relax for a little bit?" she requested.

"Oh... Of course..." Paw nodded.

Paw headed to the telescope tree, she took Lucy off of her back before sitting down against it with Lucy held in her lap.

"Are you cold, friend?" Paw asked.

"A little..." she answered.

Paw took off her black robe and wrapped it around the blondes shoulders before pulling her body into a hug to warm her up.

"Isn't that better?" Paw asked.

Lucy didn't answer.

"Friend?" Paw was worried.

It was a few moments before Lucy finally spoke up.

"Paw... My time is almost up..." she spoke quietly.

"What?" Paw answered.

"Pretty soon it's gonna be time for me to go..." she continued.

Paw's eyes widened when she realized what Lucy was talking about.

"What? Now?" she asked. "N-No! You can't leave now! There's still so much that I want to do with you!"

"I'm sorry, Paw... I'd love to experience whatever you have in mind but it's almost time..." Lucy told her. "I can feel it..."

"Just hang on!" she pleaded. "Everything will be ok! I'm sure that it's just a false alarm! You can stay with me for longer and we can do lots of fun stuff together but you won't be able to do it if you don't hang on!"

Paw's voice quivered as tears came to her eyes.

"So please hang on..." she pleaded closing her eyes. "Just for a little bit longer, I'm not ready to be alone again yet..."

"It'll be ok, Paw... You'll never be truly alone..." Lucy reassured giving a small smile. "Even if I'm not here, Primrose and Lotus are... Besides you can always make new friends..."

"But they're not the same as you..." she cried. "No one could ever replace you, you're my best friend and I love you..."

"I'm sorry, Paw... I can't stick around any longer..." she apologized getting weaker. "Thank you... for... everything..."

Lucy's body rested against Paw's and her turquoise eyes widened, her human form faltering for a moment.

"Friend?" Paw asked.

But there was no response from the blonde.

"Friend?!" Paw asked louder.

Once again, there was no response and it was clear to Paw now that her best friend had passed away.

"LUCY!" Paw used her real name for once. "NO!"

Paw began to shake her.

"PLEASE! I'M NOT READY FOR YOU TO LEAVE YET!" she cried out. "COME BACK, PLEASE! OPEN YOUR EYES! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

Paw continued shaking her but Lucy wasn't reacting to anything that the dream dweller did and after a while, her body began to grow cold in the dream dwellers arms.

She pulled Lucy close and buried her face into the top of Lucy's head allowing her tears to wet Lucy's hair.

"Please, Lucy... Don't go..."

* * *

 **And that's the Stay ending for this story, I actually planned for this ending to turn out in a couple of different ways originally.**

 **At first I planned for Lucy to reject the potion but give Paw a final request to let her see her friends one last time prompting Paw to bring everyone into the dream world and it would end with Paw watching from afar with a smile on her face as they walked off but I scrapped it because I think Lucy would rather be alone than have her friends die alongside her.**

 **The second, I planned for Lucy to accept the potion and live with Paw in the dream world until Paw eventually grew old and died leaving Lucy in the dream world as either an eternal dreamer or a new dream dweller but I was already too far into the ending to go back and change it when I came up with it so I scrapped it.**

 **And the third, I planned for Lucy to reject the potion and things to carry on like they did in the ending only it continues with Protea appearing to Paw as a spirit and explaining that she can still save Lucy if Paw is willing to let Lucy wake up. Paw does and looks through the telescope tree into the real world to see Lucy waking up which causes her to sadly smile and say "If my love is what's hurting you then I'll set you free" but I didn't feel like that fit her character so I scrapped it.**

 **And those were the alternate stay endings but anyways everyone before you go, there's something that I want you to do.**

 **I have a beta reader named Revlis Charm and she works hard to edit these stories and make them less crappy, she's put up with my laziness and tendency to get easily distracted so I want you all to give her a big round of applause for all her hard work because she deserves it. Go on, I'll wait.**

 **...**

 **Did you clap? ... Ok, good.**

 **Now for the last time for this story if you aren't going to read the Leave ending as well.**

 **Review plz?**


	36. Ending: Good Morning, Lucy

**Nobody POV**

* * *

Lucy seemed torn, she stared at the begging dream dweller with unblinking eyes.

"I..." she tried to say only to trail off.

She shut her eyes with a sigh, she opened them again and turned her head to look at Natsu.

"Let's go..." she decided to leave.

The dream dweller was unable to hear them as the storm raged on but the people around Lucy did.

"Then let's get out of here before it's too late, Luce...," Natsu wanted to end this nightmare. "Take off the scarf, we'll be right behind you..."

Lucy nodded and took off her scarf causing her to disappear, the others quickly followed as they either took off their scarves or pinched their cheeks to wake themselves up leaving Paw all alone.

She didn't notice until she raised her head to see if they were there only finding an empty space and a few scarves littering the ground where they once stood.

"No... No..." her turquoise eyes widened.

Paw roughly slammed her head into the ground.

"NOOOOOO!" she let out an agonized scream at the pain of losing her best friend.

The dream world began to quickly fall apart around her until the pleasant world that she had built around herself for the dreamers had been reduced to nothing more than an endless black void which Paw fell deep into.

* * *

 **!~In the Real World~!**

* * *

Lucy was the first one to wake up, she cracked open her brown eyes looking at the ceiling above her.

"Huh?" she thought to herself. "I'm not in my apartment..."

She drowsily yawned which didn't go unnoticed especially not when Lucy began to slowly sit up.

"So where am...?" she thought.

Her thoughts were cut off when a furry blue blur slammed into her almost knocking her back down.

"LUSHY!" it cried.

"Happy?" she was surprised.

Happy was hugging her tightly, Lucy put a hand on his back as she looked around only to see that she was in the guild.

"Welcome back, Cheerleader!" Bixlow greeted her. "Although I guess I can't call you that anymore... I think Sleeping Beauty is a better nickname now!"

"Sleeping Beauty, Sleeping Beauty" his 'babies' repeated.

"Why am I in the guild?" she looked around.

"Do you not know what happened?" Carla asked.

"No, I do... I just remember falling asleep in my apartment and if I was gonna wake up in the guild then I thought it would be in the infirmary, not in the middle of the guild..." Lucy answered.

"You'll have to ask the others when they wake up," Mavis answered. "Speaking of which... Where are they?"

"They said that they were right beh..." she tried to say.

She was cut off when one by one, the others began to wake up as well.

"Why am I on the floor?" Gray sat up.

"I put you there..." Rogue nonchalantly answered as he sat up.

"Why?" he asked.

"So I could put Sting on a bed" Rogue answered.

"Then why am I on the floor too?" Gajeel sat up.

"So I could lay down on a bed..." Rogue answered.

Before anyone could respond Frosch climbed onto Rogue's bed with a happy look on it's face.

"Fro missed you, Rogue!" it exclaimed before hugging the shadow dragon slayer tightly.

Rogue just hugged the small exceed back and Carla climbed onto Wendy's bed.

"Are you ok, Wendy?" Carla asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok...," Wendy answered. "Did you stay here the whole time that I was in the dream world?"

"Of course I did," she nodded. "I couldn't and wouldn't leave you alone when you're in danger."

Everyone that had been in the dream world had some kind reunion with someone in the guild.

"I'm glad to see that everyone's awake" Mavis spoke up after a few moments. "How are you all feeling?"

"I'm honestly tired..." Lisanna yawned after saying that.

"Seriously?" Evergreen asked. "You were sleeping for hours..."

"Now that you mention it, I'm kind of tired too..." Laxus yawned as well.

"Maybe you all experienced the same thing that the monster was putting it's victims through?" Freed guessed.

"Maybe..." Levy spoke tiredly.

"How about we all go home and get some rest?" Mirajane suggested. "We can all enjoy being out of the dream world... Besides it does seem to be quite late."

"That sounds like a good idea." Gajeel was all for it.

"If anyone sees something that doesn't seem right in your dreams though either run, fight, or try to wake yourselves up," Erza advised. "Just don't let yourself become another victim of it."

"Don't need to tell any of us twice..." Sting spoke for everyone when he said that.

Everyone then got up and went their separate ways with Mavis waving at them from the entrance to the guild.

"Have a nice night!" she called.

Lucy walked alone on the street as she headed back to her apartment, she breathed the fresh air and looked up at the starry sky overhead.

"Everything feels so different comparred to the dream world that I was kept in..." she thought. "It feels and looks a lot more natural..."

She smiled to herself as she walked and let out a breath of relief.

"I like it..." she was happy.

Lucy walked down the street and reached her house, she changed into her pajamas and turned out the lights before falling asleep underneath her pink comforter.

* * *

 **!~Time Skip~!**

* * *

It had been a few months since the victims had been rescued from the dream world, there had been no suspicious activity in anyones dreams and everyone had gotten used to the fact that the dream dweller was gone so everyone was enjoying the peace.

Currently it was early in the morning and Lucy had just entered into the guild and went over to sit down at the bar.

"Good morning, Lucy." Mirajane greeted her.

"Morning, Mira," she smiled. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept good, thanks for asking," Mirajane smiled back. "What are you doing here so early though?"

"Well me, Natsu, Erza, and Gray are leaving for a long mission so we decided to try and wake up early so we could get it done quicker," Lucy frowned. "I didn't see them when I entered into the guild though so I guess that plan is entirely out the window."

"Oh don't say that... I'm sure that everything is fine and they're already on their way to the guild as we speak..." Mirajane reassured the blonde.

"I hope so..." Lucy sighed.

Lucy began to have a conversation with Mirajane while she waited for the three of them to arrive at the guild.

* * *

 **Gray POV**

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself standing in a completely dark world, there was nothing here other than a small patch of glass shards scattered across the invisble platform that I was standing on.

"What the?" I looked around myself. "Where am I?"

The glass shards crunched and broke even more when I stepped on them.

"This place feels real enough so I don't think it's a dream..." I thought to myself.

The sound of a bell rang out nearby causing me to raise an eyebrow but my eyes widened when I heard something.

"Gray! Erza!" I heard Natsu's voice call out.

"Natsu?" I thought.

"Gray?! Natsu?! Are you here?!" I heard Erza's voice call out. "Say something if you can hear me!"

"Erza?" I thought. "They're in this place too? Where are they?"

I tried to look for a way to continue and for a while, there was nothing until more glass shards fell from above and landed on a path that would have been completely invisible otherwise.

"This might get me killed but I don't care, I have to find them..." I thought.

I walked along the path following the glass shards that were crushed beneath my feet, more glass shards fell from above making me able to see the path.

The path lead me in so many different twists and turns until it brought me to a bigger platform full made visible by glass shards littering it.

"There's no where else to go..." I thought looking around. "Where are they?"

I was about to call out for them when two paths made visible by broken glass became conected to the platform that I was standing on but that wasn't all as Erza came from the path on the right and Natsu from the left.

"Erza, Natsu." I was glad to see that they were safe.

"Gray? You're here too?" Natsu asked. "And you too, Erza?"

"Yeah, we're both here," Erza confirmed. "The question is though... Where is here?"

"I don't know, I just opened my eyes and I was here...," I answered. "I'm guessing that's how you guys wound up here too?"

They both nodded.

"Do you think that this could be a dream?" Natsu asked.

"No, this feels way too real to be a dream..." I answered.

"Then what is it?" he asked.

"How do you expect me to know?" I asked back. "I'm just as lost as you right now."

"Then do you know what this is Erza?" he turned to her.

"I don't know anymore than you and Gray do, Natsu," she told him. "I'm just as confused."

"Great... What are we supposed to do?" he asked. "No one else is here but us, we can't see anything other than each other and this glass, and the only other paths are ways that we've already gone."

"I don't know but we should just try to come up with any kind of plan as soon as possible," she suggested. "We have to prepared for anything that might happen."

For a while, the three of us just tried to come up with a plan on what to do but we weren't having any luck whatsoever and a small thought popped into my head.

"Are we even going to make it out of this place?" I wondered before quickly shaking my head to dismiss the thought. "No! What am I thinking? I can't think like that! We'll make it out of here!"

Erza and Natsu didn't seem to notice me shaking my head and I joined back in on trying to come up with something but after a while, we were interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing.

"Hey! There's that bell again!" Natsu looked around.

"You heard it too?" I asked him.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Then that means all three of us heard that bell." Erza had heard it as well. "Where is it coming from?"

"Is anyone there?!" we heard a very familiar voice call out to us.

"What the? Was that?" that surprised me,

"Luce! Is that you?!" Natsu didn't hesitate yelling out.

"Natsu?! Hold on! Stay where you are!" she exclaimed. "I'm coming!"

We could hear the sound of crunching glass and I began to see an appearing pathway in the distance made up of glass, running along it was Lucy and she wearing a strange bracelet made up of a purple string that had a bell hanging from it.

"Guys, I'm so glad that I found you!" she seemed happy as she reached where we were.

She opened her arms to hug us but this didn't feel right to me.

"Stop!" I stopped her.

"Huh? What's the matter, Gray?" she looked confused.

"I'm just testing something... What's the first mission that we all went on?" I asked her.

"Gray? What's with you?" Natsu asked.

"I'm trying to make sure that this isn't some dream and she's not some monster." I answered.

"That's ridiculous! Lucy isn't a-!" Natsu tried to argue.

"No, Natsu... It's ok... After what happened this sort of thing is perfectly understandable...," she reassured. "And the first mission that we all went on was when Erza returned to the guild to recruit you and Natsu to help her investigate a dark guild called Eisenwald."

"Ok so you are real but what's with that bell on your wrist?" I asked.

"This?" she held up her wrist.

"Yeah, that." I nodded.

"Well when I woke up here, everything was covered in darkness and there was glass but there was also this and when I put it on everything was normal again... I guess that we got some kind of spell cast on us or something to make us see things like this..." she explained.

"Did you find anymore of those?" Erza asked.

"As a matter of fact, I actually did," she answered pulling out three more. "Here."

We each took one.

"Just put it on your wrist and I'll meet you at the guild, ok?" she asked.

"Got it," Natsu nodded. "See you there, Luce."

"See you there." she smiled.

We each put our little bell bracelets and the world around us all immediately changed, I was brought back to my house where I was sitting in my bed.

I looked at the bell bracelet on my wrist and had a strange feeling.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." I thought to myself. "But why? This isn't a dream..."

After trying to figure out what was giving me this bad feeling and failing, I just shrugged before I got out of bed and starting to get ready for the day.

* * *

 **Nobody POV**

* * *

Back with Lucy, the dark world full of glass around her began to change to the guild but something was off about it.

Lucy was the only one standing in the guild and although after a bit people began to appear in the guild, there was something off about them as well as they each wore one of the bell bracelets.

"Guys, hide those," she commanded. "They'll know that something is up if they see you wearing those."

Collectively each one of the guild members took off their bell bracelets and put them somewhere where they wouldn't be seen.

"Ah... Perfect...," she was happy. "Everything is going according to plan."

Slowly Lucy's eyes turned a vivid purple color instead of their normal brown and her teeth began to slowly become sharp as well, her form even flickered between that of Lucy and that of a shadowy creature.

"Soon I'll have friends and they'll never leave," she smiled. "I just have to make sure that they don't figure out that this place isn't real and if someone comes looking for them, I'll make them look like the monster... Literally..."

She let out a contented sigh and her form slipped to her shadowy form.

"That Gray one though... I wouldn't mind spending the most time with him to be completely honest with you though..." she talked to herself.

Her happiness was cut short when she noticed that she no longer looked like Lucy which surprised her.

"Oh! I didn't even notice!" she exclaimed.

The illusion people around her faltered around her for a moment but quickly stabilized as she regained concentration and changed her form to look like the blonde haired mage once again.

"There we go..." she thought to herself. "Now to just sit down and wait..."

She headed over to the bar and was served a drink by "Mirajane", she took a drink and awaited her friends arrival in the guild with excitement.

Little did the three of them know however is that the world that they were currently living in was nothing more than a giant illusion and reality lay where their bodies are fast asleep in their respective beds with no intention of waking up anytime soon.

The real Lucy sat at the bar with the real Mirajane, she had a bored look on her face as she rested her head in her hand and tapped her fingers against the counter.

"Where are they?" she thought to herself unknowing that she would probably be waiting there for a long time.

* * *

 **And that's the Leave ending, it's bad I know and I'm sorry that it is bad but I'm not good at writing happy things. I'm a more feels kind of person.**

 **But anyways if you were wondering who that other dream dweller is then you can find out by going and reading the Stay ending but if you don't want to then that's ok.**

 **Also I was setting up for a sequel that I probably won't wind up writing so if you guys want one then it's probably gonna take a rather long time so I'm sorry but I didn't know where else to take this ending other than setting up for a sequel. Does that make me a bad writer? Probably but ok.**

 **Anywho, I've talked for long enough so one last time for this story /or second to last time if you're gonna read the other ending as well.**

 **Review plz?**


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